2024 CPL Regular Season — Match #58
Cavalry FC vs. Forge FC
July 21, 2024 at 3 p.m. MT/5 p.m. ET
ATCO Field in Calgary, Alberta
Watch Live: OneSoccer.ca & TELUS Ch. 980 // Tickets available here

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Some high-octane Canadian Premier League action is scheduled for Sunday afternoon in Alberta, as the league’s two most successful clubs square off for the third time this year. Forge FC will pay their second visit of 2024 to ATCO Field, where they’ll be looking for redemption after Cavalry FC got the best of them a month ago.

Cavalry will take on their foes from Hamilton at a time when a top-level challenge might be exactly what they need. The Cavs enter matchweek 15 sitting outside of the playoff picture, currently in sixth place with 17 points and a 3-8-3 record — showing they’ve been very difficult to beat this year, but also haven’t been winning much, splitting the points more often than not. That hasn’t been the case in the last three weeks, though, with a victory in Winnipeg bookended on either side by a loss.

The most recent outing for the Calgary side was last Saturday’s 2-1 loss to York United, their first defeat to a CPL team on home soil this year. That was a frustrating game that highlighted many of the Cavs’ problems, as their 14 shots and 57.8 per cent possession converted to just one shot on target, which was their consolation goal in the 98th minute of play.

Things have been going better for Forge recently, after they beat Pacific FC 2-1 last Sunday thanks to a Kwasi Poku brace. The Hammers sit third in the league entering the weekend, with a 6-3-4 record and 21 points. They have a game in hand on the teams above them, but the seven-point gap to first place is still larger than Bobby Smyrniotis and his players would like it to be.

That said, Forge are in good form right now, with that win over Pacific a solid continuation of the way they played against Toronto FC in their Canadian Championship semifinal match last Wednesday. The challenge now, though, will be transferring their recent home performances to the road; they’re winless in their last five games away from home, with only one road win (their first away match of the year, at York United).

Cavalry and Forge are two sides that always seem to bring the best out of one another, however, and they typically produce memorable contests. The Cavs claimed all three points last time they met, a 1-0 result at ATCO Field in perhaps Cavalry’s best performance of the year so far. That broke a three-game winning streak for Forge against the Calgary side though, a run which included the 2023 CPL Final.

Both teams will go into Sunday’s game looking for some contributions from depth players in their squads. Cavalry continue to be bitten by the injury bug; William Akio is of course out for the season, but this week’s unavailable list also includes Sergio Camargo, Bradley Kamdem, Eryk Kobza, Ali Musse and Lleyton Brooks.

Forge, meanwhile, will be missing defender Malik Owolabi-Belewu as he serves a one-game suspension for yellow card accumulation. Ruled out with injury are Sebastian Castello, Terran Campbell and — perhaps most notably —  Béni Badibanga. Both Tristan Borges and David Choinière are also considered game-time decisions with minor knocks.

Whoever the personnel on the field are, though, it’s still a Cavalry-Forge clash, and that’s always unmissable entertainment in the CPL.

All CPL matches are available to stream on OneSoccer, FuboTV, or on TELUS Optik TV Channel 980.

3 THINGS TO WATCH

• Cavs desire return to set-piece dominance: In 2023, one of the key ways Cavalry were able to turn draws into wins and take an edge over opponents was their ability to score from set-pieces. That magic has disappeared somewhat in 2024 — particularly since they’ve lost the left-footed deliveries of Ali Musse. With just 14 goals scored this year, Cavalry are desperate to find ways to put the ball in the net; if they can become more dangerous from corners and free kicks once more, things could turn around for them very quickly. Fraser Aird, arguably Cavalry’s best player in 2024, has one of the best right-footed deliveries in the CPL, it’s just a matter of getting players on the other end of them in the right places.

• Duel of in-form strikers: Although Cavalry haven’t been scoring much this year, one of their players has been. Tobias Warschewski added the consolation marker against York last week for his seventh of the CPL campaign, putting him into a tie for the Golden Boot lead. He’s been the main consistent goal threat in Calgary so far, including against Forge last time when he scored the match’s only goal. Meanwhile, Forge’s Kwasi Poku has scored eight goals in the last 10 games since converting from a fullback to a centre-forward, including six in CPL play to put him one behind Warschewski. Poku is the hottest attacking player in the league right now, unquestionably, after adding another brace against Pacific last weekend. Both strikers will likely be a key focus of the opposing team’s preparation; don’t bet against either of them finding the net on Sunday.

• New faces to write next chapter of Cavalry-Forge rivalry? With a handful of the usual suspects in this matchup set to miss out with injury, the door may be open for someone new to make an impact in this game. Cavalry’s summer international signing, German forward Nicolas Wähling, made a half-hour debut last weekend and looked lively immediately; now that he’s been in training a few weeks he might be ready for a longer appearance. The Cavs could certainly use a new attacking spark. Plus, a player who has been around the team for over a year but has yet to make much impact is Niko Myroniuk, who has started the last three games and looked better each time, so he could have another opportunity to introduce himself properly on Sunday. Meanwhile, would this be a good moment for Nana Ampomah to make his first start for Forge, with Badibanga injured? The Ghanaian attacker has incredible European pedigree, but has yet to get an extended run out since arriving in Hamilton.

PROJECTED STARTING XIs

Cavalry FC: Carducci; Aird, Klomp, Montgomery, Field; Trafford, Gutiérrez; Shome, Warschewski, Wähling; Shaw

Forge FC: Kalongo; Duncan, Achinioti-Jönsson, Metusala, Parra; Bekker, Borges, Hojabrpour; Choinière, Poku, Ampomah

ALL-TIME SERIES

Cavalry FC wins: 8 || Forge FC wins: 13 || Draws: 7

Last meeting:

June 8, 2024 — Cavalry FC 1-0 Forge FC

KEY QUOTES

“Anytime you play Forge it’s becoming a history; we’ve only ever had two games that weren’t a one-goal game, and that’s how close they’ve been whether it’s regular season or playoffs. They’re a terrific side, it’s always nice to play them because you can’t slip in focus for 95-plus minutes because no matter if you’re up a goal or down a goal, they’ve got players with a bit of magic in them. … We want to play the best team, because that brings us out, and it’ll be very much like a cup final.” — Cavalry FC head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr.