Atlético Ottawa remain in first place in the Canadian Premier League following their scintillating draw with Forge FC last weekend and now must face FC Edmonton on Friday at TD Place before embarking on a gruelling month away from home (KO 7pm ET).

Head Coach Carlos González’s side came out on top the last time the Eddies came to town and will be looking to keep their good form going as the end of the regular season approaches and playoff spots are clinched.

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of Friday’s kick-off.

• Atlético Ottawa currently sit in first place with 39 points from 22 games played.
  • Forge FC (36 points from 20 games), however, have a chance to draw level with Atleti when they face Valour FC on Wednesday night (KO 8pm ET, live on OneSoccer).
  • FC Edmonton, on the other hand, remain in eighth place (15 points from 22 games).
• Three Ottawa players have been named to the CPL ‘Team of the Week’ following the team’s performance against Forge last weekend.
  • Those players are: Midfielders Ollie Bassett, Abdou Sissoko and 20-year-old Spanish defender Deigo Espejo.
  • This is Bassett’s league-leading 8th nomination this season.
  • Ottawa have received the second most TOTW nominations across the league (31) this season.
• González bested his Edmonton counterpart Alan Koch the last time these two sides met at TD Place.
  • A quick-fire double from Canadian forward Ballou Tabla inspired Atleti to a 2-1 victory in the torrential rain.
• FC Edmonton ended a seven-game winless streak thanks to a thrilling 3-2 victory against HFX Wanderers in Nova Scotia.
  • Inspired by York United-loanee Tobias Warschewski’s second-half brace, the Eddies picked up their first three points since beating York on July 1, 2022.
• Record head-to-head (all-time): 4W-2D-1L; 12 goals scored, 9 goals conceded
• Atlético Ottawa are throwing it back to arguably the best decade on Friday night as we head into the weekend full of 80s groove.
  • To celebrate 80s Night, the best Dressed will win $1000 and there’s another $500 up for grabs for our themed halftime trivia.

• Brian Wright, Forward, Atlético Ottawa”Edmonton are not an easy team to beat – any team in this league on any given day can beat you. We just have to show up and do the things we know we are capable of doing and put in a good performance, everyone works hard and we should be able to get the job done. We want to put on a great performance and hopefully the fans will show up on Friday, and then miss us for four games before coming out strong for our last home game.”

• Atlético Ottawa announced on Wednesday they had signed two local players to Canadian Premier League Development Contracts for the remainder of the season. Both products of the West Ottawa Soccer Club, defender Gabriel Carvalho (2006) and midfielder Omar Darwish (2005) have been identified through the Atlético de Madrid Development Program. The program trains some of Ottawa-Gatineau’s top up-and-coming U23 talents weekly in the same professional environment that benefits Atlético Ottawa’s current run for the playoffs. READ MORE