by Todd May
Having played to a 1-1 draw last Wednesday evening, Vancouver returns to Edmonton for the second leg of the Amway Canadian Championship Semi-final.
Edmonton scored early in the first leg to get a crucial away goal meaning the Whitecaps must score to stand a chance of progressing to the final.
Vancouver sent out a team that didn’t contain a single player in the starting 11 at the weekend vs Seattle. However, Carl Robinson will be forced into changes from the 1st leg due to multiple injuries. Sam Adekugbe is still out with an ankle injury, while Rob Earnshaw and Erik Hurtado both have knocks ruling them out. Additionally Deybi Flores is away on international duty for his native Honduran U-20 squad.
FC Edmonton rested many of their players at the weekend in their NASL match vs San Antonio presumably keeping an eye on today’s game. Key players Tomi Ameobi, Sainey Nyassi and Johann Smith only played bit-part minutes in preparation of the second leg.
Darren Mattocks should have the opportunity to rebound from the defeat to Seattle.
When it comes to attacking, neither team has a problem putting the ball in the back of the net. Octavio Rivero is earning a reputation as a regular goal scorer but is unlikely to feature paving the way for Darren Mattocks to start.
The Jamaican was heavily involved at BC Place and will do so again for the return leg. The first leg at BC Place, Vancouver didn’t look their fluid selves likely due to the players not having any experience together in a competitive environment.
Edmonton are joint top scorers of the NASL with 11 and are finding scorers from all over the pitch which will be extremely encouraging for manager Colin Miller. The Scot will be happy to see Englishmen Tomi Ameobi and Ritchie Jones carrying the weight of the attacking force and will be expected to threaten the Whitecaps goal especially as both players have already notched 3 goals apiece this season.
Expect to see more household names and faces from the visiting Vancouver squad particularly as injuries have depleted numbers somewhat. Jordan Harvey is likely to start in defence, Gershon Koffie in midfield and Darren Mattocks in attack. With Vancouver needing to score, Carl Robinson has already mentioned he will want to field an exciting and attacking line-up from the starting whistle.
The away goal rule will come into play Wednesday night so the winners will face Montreal who defeated Toronto FC 1-0 in the other semi-final.
Kick off is set for 7 P.M. PT at Edmonton’s Clarke Field.
Find the match on SN One/World and TSN 1410
