Match Preview: Vancouver Whitecaps vs Forge FC – another day, another big outing

Just 72 hours after taking on the team at the top of the MLS table, the Whitecaps will be right back on the pitch at BC Place, taking on the team that’s at the top of the Canadian Premier League table.

Hopefully the Vancouver players enjoyed their time off during their recent multi-week break, because it’s now a sprint to the finish line in the MLS regular season, accompanied by the quest to four-peat as Canadian champions.

It’s a history-chasing mission for sure, as only once before has a team won four straight Canadian Championship titles (Toronto FC from 2009 through 2012), but that includes two years of the tournament being round robin with no true “final”. Add on the fact that there are many more teams competing now compared to 15 years ago, and the ‘Caps have the chance to truly cement themselves as the best dynasty in the competition’s history.

Of course, in order to do that they must make the final first. And as Forge showed in the first leg of this semifinal tie in Hamilton, they are eager to earn another MLS scalp after dumping CF Montreal out of the competition back in July.

Now, things haven’t exactly gone entirely the way of the Ontario side since that 2-2 draw with the ‘Caps last month. They had their bid for an unbeaten CPL season snapped in a 4-1 loss to Cavalry FC two weeks ago, before then suffering a fairly surprising 2-1 defeat to Valour FC this past Thursday.

Despite that, it’s a team that still has plenty of talent, and are aided by the fact that the away goals rule is not in play, so there’s no “must score” philosophy from the beginning of the game despite the fact that the ‘Caps scored twice in the first leg.

For the home team, the big question is just how much rotation there will be from Saturday’s lineup, as Jesper Sørensen went with a full first-choice XI for that clash with the Union. It certainly worked – it’s exceedingly difficult to find a way to complain about a 7-0 victory – but there will surely have to be some changes for Tuesday night.

The two who would seem most locked into the lineup are Tristan Blackmon and Belal Halbouni, purely because there are no healthy alternatives at centre-back unless Mathias Laborda was shifted over, but he’s not played the position in a back four at all under Sørensen. Otherwise, just about every spot is up for grabs depending on how much the man in charge wants to shake things up.

Given the required Canadian quota, the likes of Jayden Nelson, Ralph Priso, Jeevan Badwal, and Isaac Boehmer are all candidates to slide in, in addition to Halbouni and Ali Ahmed should they get the start again.

The most intriguing option is Rayan Elloumi, the 17-year-old forward who inked his first-team contract mere days ago before subsequently scoring off the bench on Saturday. He also celebrates his birthday on Wednesday! With Brian White injured and Daniel Rios consistently unremarkable, it’ll be a matter of whether Sørensen wants a more veteran presence up top for a key cup semi-final, or whether he’s willing to roll the dice on the most exciting prospect the club has had rise out of its academy in the last few years.

Regardless of who exactly gets the nod in the starting lineup, the Whitecaps currently boast (outside of their injured defensive corps) an amount of depth that they’ve not had in other years, which will hopefully help them book a place in another Canadian Championship Final.

Despite six players out injured, and using all five subs against Philadelphia, the list of players who didn’t even feature at all in that game included Priso, JC Ngando, and Kenji Cabrera, all of whom will be 100% fresh and capable of providing a spark or two on Tuesday. And if you have the luxury of perhaps even bringing someone like a Thomas Müller off the bench, then there are certainly worse problems to have when fielding a team.