| Atlético Ottawa vs. Halifax Wanderers Aug. 8 at 1 p.m. ET /10 a.m. PT TD Place in Ottawa, Ontario Watch Live: OneSoccer, TSN Tickets available here |
|---|
Atlético Ottawa return home on Saturday afternoon hoping to keep pace with the top of the table, as they host a Halifax Wanderers side desperate to stay in the playoff race.
A week ago, Atleti head coach Gustavo Leal saw his side beaten soundly on the West Coast by Vancouver FC — the club's first defeat since Leal's arrival.
Ottawa have a 1-1-1 record since Leal officially took over, and they find themselves in fourth place at the beginning of Matchweek 16. For the reigning champions, a berth in the CPL Playoffs is the bare minimum; third or higher is where they're truly aiming this season.
This week's test is a Wanderers side that Atleti have already beaten twice this year, once at home and once in Halifax. They met on Canada Day in Nova Scotia, where treble of first-half goals gave Ottawa an insurmountable lead.
However, Vanni Sartini and Halifax are hoping to put the past behind them, unfazed by the club's poor track record in the nation's capital. The Wanderers haven't won in Ottawa since 2021, but they feel like the time is ripe for a turn in their fortunes.
Sartini pointed out that this Ottawa team is quite different from the one they faced already this season; under Leal, they have changed their defensive structure to a 4-4-2, which Sartini says opens up some other spaces for the Wanderers but still makes them a dangerous opponent.
"The defensive transition is the most important part of the game for us, because they're really good at winning the ball and playing the ball forward," Sartini said Friday. "They have players with high quality like Tabla, Antinoro that in transition can attack the space. ... We need to be extremely good in our rest defence, in our organization when we have the ball."
Last weekend, Halifax held league leaders Forge FC to a scoreless draw, doing well to limit a dangerous opponent.
The next challenge for the Wanderers is scoring more goals of their own. They've done better on that front in the last two months, but have still scored the third-fewest goals in the CPL (and they've played more games than anyone else).
Halifax sit in sixth place, four points behind Ottawa for the final playoff spot. If they're to stay in the race, they have to pick up results against the teams directly ahead of them.
Both these sides are desperate for a result this weekend; a win for either could seriously shift the outlook of this year's playoff race.
NEWS & NOTES
- Atlético Ottawa's Ballou Tabla was recently named the CPL's Player of the Month for July. His teammate Chris Kalongo was named Allstate Goalkeeper of the Month.
- Halifax head coach Vanni Sartini will return to the touchline after serving a one-match suspension last week.
- Ottawa defender Sergei Kozlovskiy remains absent as he competes with Canada in the Concacaf U-20 Championship. Gustavo Leal told reporters that Diego Gutiérrez is the only other availability concern, as he gets up to full match fitness.
- Halifax are missing a few attacking players due to injury; Cyprian Kachwele and Victor Akinwale remain sidelined with mild sprains. Kareem Sow is available after returning to training. Sartini also revealed that Isaiah Johnston is a question mark; he and his fiancée are expecting a baby in the next few days, so the club will await word on whether Johnston is available to join them in Ottawa.
PROJECTED STARTING XIs
Atlético Ottawa: Kalongo; Mbomio, Cloutier, Dunn, Timoteo; Aparicio, Castro; Antinoro, Tabla, Garcia; Fleuriau Chateau
Halifax Wanderers: Carducci; Alphonse, Meilleur-Giguère, Linder; Zitman, Olguin, Callegari, Telfer; Johnston, Ciccarelli, Arilla
KEY QUOTES
"Week by week we are improving. The guys know better about the idea. I think the results could be a little bit better in the last rounds, but for example, if we think about the last game, the first 15-20 minutes were so bad, but after that we didn't have a bad game. The idea is clear, the guys know about it. What we need now is to find the balance to play in the same high level during all 90 minutes." - Atlético Ottawa head coach Gustavo Leal
"We're playing very well since after the World Cup break. I think we've been playing the best football in the league, and unfortunately we need to be better in some moments. ... We dominated the game but conceded two silly transitions against Ottawa, and then we lost the game, so that's a very good reminder of what we need to do tomorrow to get the three points." - Halifax Wanderers head coach Vanni Sartini
