| Inter Toronto vs. Halifax Wanderers FC Aug. 16 at 4 p.m. ET /1 p.m. PT York Lions Stadium in Toronto, Ontario Watch Live: OneSoccer Tickets available here |
|---|
Inter Toronto and the Halifax Wanderers meet in Ontario on Sunday afternoon, both fighting for their playoff lives.
Hosts Toronto return home desperate to get back into the win column; they find themselves on a nine-game winless run, and are slipping toward the bottom of the table.
Although they improved last week with a 1-1 draw at Pacific FC, the summer has been difficult for Inter Toronto. They now sit in seventh place, 10 points outside of the playoff picture before play in Matchweek 17.
However, the Halifax Wanderers are likewise hungry for a win, since they haven't tasted victory since July 5. Vanni Sartini's side is closer to the top four, in sixth place with 17 points (seven out of the last spot), but with one more match played than the sides they're chasing.
Last weekend's outing in Ottawa was a frustrating one for Sartini and co., who took the lead in the first half but left with nothing in a 2-1 loss. The Wanderers started well, but failed to finish some golden opportunities. The second half was divided by a 90-minute weather delay, and after play resumed, Halifax were second-best.
"I counted in the last four games between Cavalry, Supra, Forge, Ottawa, probably 10 chances within the distance of 10 yards from the goal," Sartini said on Saturday. "We've got to do better there, and hopefully we will do better tomorrow because it's key to win games, to close games, like we should have done in Ottawa."
So, the Wanderers now remain on the road looking for their first win in the province of Ontario since April 2025 — which also came at York Lions Stadium.
These sides will be familiar with one another after two prior meetings this season. There's been nothing to separate them either time; when they met in Toronto in Matchweek 2, a late Halifax equalizer secured a 2-2 draw. At the Wanderers Grounds a few weeks later, Julian Altobelli and Isaiah Johnston traded goal-of-the-year candidates in another stalemate.
A draw wouldn't do much for either of these teams, which Sartini pointed out could make for an interesting second half; if the match is tied late, expect both sides to open the taps and go all-out for a winner.
NEWS & NOTES
- Mauro Eustáquio says Inter Toronto have a clean bill of health for this match. Shola Jimoh, who has returned from the Concacaf U-20 Championship, is still questionable after an injury picked up in camp with Canada.
- The Halifax Wanderers remain without strikers Cyprian Kachwele and Victor Akinwale, per Vanni Sartini. Isaiah Johnston will travel, though he missed several training sessions this week due to the birth of a child.
PROJECTED STARTING XIs
Inter Toronto: Pavela; López, León, Singh; Ferrari, Yeates, Bassett, Kibato; Gonzales, Altobelli, Almagro
Halifax Wanderers: Carducci; Alphonse, Meilleur-Giguère, Linder, Telfer; Callegari, Olguin, Zitman; Johnston, Ciccarelli, Arilla
KEY QUOTES
"Everybody has to have an input on both sides, on both nets. It would be unfair for me just to say that the defence isn't going well because we're conceding, or the offence isn't going well for us not to be scoring. Giving them that confidence, giving them trust that everybody attacks and everybody defends, takes away the pressure from the attackers just on focusing on the offensive end, and takes a bit of pressure off the defenders going the other way." - Inter Toronto head coach Mauro Eustáquio
"We are in a position, in my opinion, where literally every game is a playoff game. In order to get into a race for teh last five, six games, we need to win at least three out of the next four, or something like this. We need to do something special in terms of how we think, even the lineup, utilizing a lot of players. But the way of playing will stay more or less the same because I think we found our best way of going forward as a team." - Halifax Wanderers head coach Vanni Sartini
