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MATCH PREVIEW on the Road: Pacific FC vs. Atlético Ottawa
August 17, 2024
Canadian Premier League
Away Match Match Preview One Soccer Pacific FC

2024 CPL Regular Season — Match #73
Pacific FC vs. Atlético Ottawa
August 17, 2024 at 3 p.m. PT/6 p.m. ET
Starlight Stadium in Langford, British Columbia
Watch Live: OneSoccer.ca & TELUS Ch. 980 // Tickets available here

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Pacific FC and Atlético Ottawa will look to get their respective seasons back on track on Saturday, set for a crucial meeting on Vancouver Island at Starlight Stadium.

These two sides are coming off defeats to provincial rivals last time out — Pacific lost 1-0 to Vancouver FC at Willoughby Community Park on a goal from former Tridents star Alejandro Diaz, while Ottawa were handily beaten 3-0 by Forge FC at Tim Hortons Field. Both have lost three matches in a row, and are winless in four overall, so Saturday’s match presents an opportunity for a much-needed reset.

This match also comes at a crucial time for the playoff race, with Pacific looking to get back into the top five again and Ottawa looking to keep pace with the teams in the CPL Shield race after falling out of top spot for the first time since May last weekend. The season hasn’t quite reached desperate, must-win territory for playoff positioning just yet, but as certain teams near the top round into form ahead of the final battles for the regular season title, the chasing pack in the middle and bottom parts of the table will need to try and keep up in order to earn one of the other spot in the postseason.

Pacific and Ottawa have met twice in CPL action in 2024, once in Ottawa and once in Langford. On both occasions the away team won 1-0, with Rubén del Campo scoring the lone goal at Starlight Stadium on May 17 and Zakaria Bahous scoring the winner on July 7 in the capital. They also met in the quarterfinals of the Canadian Championship, drawing 0-0 in Ottawa in the first leg on May 8 before Pacific advanced with a 2-1 victory in the return leg.

Pacific were involved in blockbuster player swap on Friday, acquiring proven CPL forward Moses Dyer on a loan from Vancouver FC until the end of the season, with winger Ayman Sellouf going the other way as both look for a fresh start.

Ottawa are the club Dyer has had the most success against in his career, finding the back of the net five times in nine appearances against the capital city club. The Tridents will be hoping he can replicate some of that form on Saturday as they look to reignite their frontline and continue their playoff push after a dry spell in attack.

“We know Moses brings a very aggressive attacking mentality, he can play anywhere across the front three, he’s also played as a central midfielder, more of a number 10 position in behind the striker, or a second striker.

“He’s something that we need in terms of our aggressiveness going forward, our looking forward first mentality,” said head coach James Merriman. “We knew the time he spent at Valour, what he brought to Valour, what he brought to the league then, and to see him come back into Vancouver and now join us, and we need him to hit the ground running with us in terms of improving our attack.”

The Tridents will be without another key attacker in this match, though, as captain Josh Heard picked up a knock ahead of this game. He is not expected to be out long term. The rest of the squad are available according to Merriman.

Ottawa made a signing of their own last week, bringing midfielder Ilias Iliadis on loan from CF Montreal through the end of the season for the second year in a row. Attacker Kevin Dos Santos and club captain left back Maxim Tissot are nearing returns for Ottawa after both missing months with injuries as well, according to head coach Carlos Gonzalez.

All CPL matches are available to stream on OneSoccer, FuboTV, or on TELUS Optik TV Channel 980.

3 THINGS TO WATCH

  • Can Moses Dyer hit the ground running to help struggling Tridents attack?: Pacific FC has scored just 14 goals in 17 league matches heading into this weekend, the lowest in the league by a significant margin, and less than half the tally of multiple teams at the top of the table. Of those 14 goals, four have come from the penalty spot and two others were own goals. James Merriman delivered a passionate message after last week’s defeat to Vancouver FC, saying that his side is not making the decisions needed to be direct and drive toward goal to create chances at the moment despite the coaches demanding more of it. They will receive a boost in that department this weekend, when Moses Dyer is expected to make his debut for the club after being acquired on loan from Vancouver FC on Friday, with 2023 difference-maker Ayman Sellouf going the other way after struggling to get into the Tridents lineup of late. Dyer had four goals and two assists in 14 appearances for Vancouver this season before the transfer, and had a reputation as one of the best forwards in the CPL over three seasons with Valour FC from 2020-2022. He will look to continue that on Vancouver Island with his new club, and provides directness and a lethal finishing ability, two things Pacific are in need of.

  • Will Ottawa get back to being the top road team?: Atlético Ottawa has only lost twice on the road this season, and had the best road record in the CPL entering matchweek 19, but both of their defeats have come in their last two matches away from TD Place. Both have been blowouts as well — first a 4-1 loss to York United in Toronto on July 26, then a 3-0 loss to Forge FC in Hamilton last weekend, with a 2-1 loss at home to Cavalry FC sandwiched in between. If they are going to stay on pace with the top of the table after letting their lead slip away, their road form needs to improve, and this match presents an opportunity to do that against a struggling Pacific side.
  • Can Pacific get a crucial home win ahead of difficult road trip?: Like Ottawa, Pacific FC are winless in their last four matches, and need a win in this one to get their season moving in the right direction again. The visitors will be keen to turn their form around as well, though, which presents a challenge in itself. It won’t get any easier after this game for the Tridents, who hit the road for matches against CPL Shield contenders Cavalry FC and Forge FC in their next two league matches, on either side of a trip to mainland BC to take on the Vancouver Whitecaps in the second leg of their Canadian Championship semifinal. It’ll be a busy stretch for the Tridents against several good teams, at a time when they desperately need to start stringing some results together.

PROJECTED STARTING XIs

Pacific FC: Gazdov; Dada-Luke, Quintana, Meilleur-Giguère, Ceceri; Dominguez, Young, Yeates; Tîrcoveanu, Dyer, O’Hea

Atlético Ottawa: Ingham; Twardek, Didic, Singh, de Brienne; Aparicio, Iliadis, Zapater; Bassett, Del Campo, Tabla

ALL-TIME SERIES

Pacific FC wins: 6 || Atlético Ottawa wins: 5 || Draws: 6

Last meeting:

July 7, 2024 — Atlético Ottawa 0-1 Pacific FC

KEY QUOTES

“This week has been a hard-working week, a week in which we’ve worked more than ever. We put things together so we have the solutions for the next game. At the end of the day we’re in a moment that we have to be a more competitive team, and be a more solid team, because we are receiving many goals in the last few weeks. I think that’s a good starting point.” — Atlético Ottawa head coach Carlos Gonzalez

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