PREVIEW: Pacific FC vs. Valour FC – Match #61

It's been a long month, but Pacific FC is finally returning home to Vancouver Island this week, as they welcome Valour FC for the grand opening of a refurbished Westhills Stadium.

These two sides find themselves behind the pace in the CPL's Fall competition, having both struggled at times in the past couple months. Pacific, sixth in the table with a 2-4-1 record, recently saw their fortunes shift, as they shut out York9 FC on the road last weekend for a close 2-0 win. Michael Silberbauer's squad is unbeaten in three of their last four matches (2-1-1), suggesting that their form could continue to climb.

Valour is on a somewhat similar trajectory, sitting one spot ahead of Pacific with a 2-3-3 Fall record. They've seen some huge results lately, including a 2-0 win at York9 (almost identical to Pacific's win a week later), and Monday's 3-1 dismantling of FC Edmonton. This comes on the back of a winless streak that stretched well into June, as Valour now looks to continue meshing with a new-look attack.

After this, Valour gets to head back to Winnipeg, where they'll play HFX Wanderers FC on Wednesday, August 28 (8:00 p.m. ET, 7:00 p.m. CT, on OneSoccer). Pacific will also travel eastward, as their next scheduled fixture is a trip to Spruce Meadows to play Cavalry FC, on Wednesday as well (9:00 p.m. ET, 7:00 p.m. MT, on OneSoccer).

• New digs: There should be a celebratory atmosphere at Westhills Stadium on Saturday, as Pacific welcomes fans to its new-look stadium after renovations. It's been a while since Pacific played at home, where they don't actually have a great record (three wins, five losses, and a draw). This would be a perfectly fitting time for them to finally assert home-field advantage.​
• Lethal weapons: Pacific has one of the hottest attacks in the CPL right now, with at least two goals in each of their last four home games, and they haven't been held off the scoresheet since June 15. Terran Campbell, especially, has taken over offensively, climbing to the top of the golden boot race with eight goals. Valour's backline has looked shaky at times in the past few months, but with 19-year-old centre-back Yohan Le Bourhis starting to make a name for himself in that spot things could be turning around for them.​
• Moving parts: It seems that Pacific has the most inconsistent starting eleven in the league, in large part due to the waves of injuries they've had to contend with. Even so, Michael Silberbauer is not afraid to try players in new positions or new formations based on the manpower he has available. That means it'll be a little tricky for Valour to work out exactly how they think their opponents are going to play — might they favour wide attacks, through Ben Fisk, or play through the middle via Noah Verhoeven?​

Pacific FC: Mark Village; Kadin Chung, Hendrik Starostzik, Lukas MacNaughton, Émile Legault; Alexander Gonzalez, Noah Verhoeven; Victor Blasco, Matthew Baldisimo, Ben Fisk; Terran Campbell

Valour FC: Mathias Janssens; Martin Arguinarena, Adam Mitter, Yohan Le Bourhis, Diego Gutierrez; Jose Galan, Louis Béland-Goyette; Michael Petrasso, Dylan Carreiro, Marco Bustos; Michele Paolucci



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