Whitecaps to take on Canadian foes Toronto FC as they progress to the home stretch of the season

Whitecaps will look to continue their playoff hunt today at 4:30pm PT at BMO Field on free on Apple TV, as they look to aim for the playoffs or even better a great position to be in when the MLS playoffs starts. But to do that, they'll have to defeat their Canadian rivals Toronto FC, as a win will benefit them a lot in the standings and every point will be gigantic at the home stretch of the season.

Toronto's form

Currently Toronto is not on the greatest of form at the moment, as even though they've won their last game over Philadelphia FC and they have been rested all the way since August 30 so they are well prepared for this Canadian matchup. But other than the win against Philadelphia, things has been extremely rough for Toronto as they've had a very bad form as they've had 4 points the their last 10 MLS games which is nothing short of horrible, but they could possibly have built from their previous win against Philadelphia, it is also worth to note that if we are including all competitions that TFC has lost 10 matches in a row before the match against Philidelphia which kinda digged Toronto out of the hole of devastingness and built back a bit of confidence. They are also currently dead last in the Eastern Conference with only 22 points, which is especially bad for Toronto standards But still the current form for Toronto is still bad at best, but they do have obviously two Italians that are superb from Europe, Toronto bought them in the 2022 secondary window which are Bernadashi and Insigne who are both spectacular especially for Major League Soccer standards and I believe that Insigne had a bit of a fall out with the current Interim Coach of Toronto Terry Dunfield, but he did start in the last match and he scored as well, for Bernardeschi he has been pretty mediocre to his standards this season only 5 goals and 2 assists which may be a reason for the terrible results Toronto FC are getting, same for Insigne only 4 goals and 3 assists in MLS play but he has only made 17 appearances so far. So stopping those two players from displaying their abilities, like to try to tackle and play as physical as possible especially with Insigne as he is only 5 foot 4, stopping those two Italians will a crucial part in the Whitecaps success in the game against TFC. Also John Herdman the former Canadian head coach will only join Toronto from October 1st and onwards so he will not be present at least not on the sidelines for Toronto.

Atmosphere

It is a little strange that atmosphere is a factor especially in a east coast game, but I have heard that some Albion and Southsiders are coming to this game here at Toronto and in BMO Field, while it is pretty impressive for Toronto to still have so many fans in attendance even though their team has been performing horribly in this 2023 season as last offering against Philadelphia had a attendance total of 25, 410 according to ESPN. which is very good for a weekday and also for a subpar team at least for this season. While Toronto offers high attendance numbers, Vancouver will also help contribute to that number on Saturday slightly here, as some Caps On Tour will be joining the Whitecaps and if you know the Southsiders or any other Caps fan groups that are there, like the Albion, Rain City Brigate, Southsisters you get the point, will sing their hearts out so I expect some captures and noises made by the Vancouver Whitecaps fans here at BMO Field. As it was always a pretty good atmosphere matchup when it's between the Whitecaps being away and the home team.

Last meeting

For every matchup it feels like it's nice to look at the previous results, and in this one it's even nicer for the Whitecaps fans and not so fun for the TFC fans. As the 2022 Canadian Championship Final was the last meeting that these two Canadian foes faced each other, and this was a iconic match for the Whitecaps, as a Canadian Championship final being played at Vancouver successfully attracting 24,307 people to catch the final against Toronto, where none of the attendances ever since then has beaten that amount of people. As the closest one to come was I believe this years Canadian Championship Final 2023, run it back title where 20,072 people showed up. But that's still pretty far away from the total they got in the 2022 Canadian Championship Final. A great cross by Gauld led to White scoring a great header as his body had to jump sideways to get that, then Toronto equalised due to a outside the boot cross by Bernardeschi that was headed in by MacNaughton due to a spectacular ball by Bernardeschi and that sends it to shootouts. Where Tristan Blackmon if he scores the Whitecaps win, and he did calmly slot it to the bottom left corner sends Bono the wrong way and the Whitecaps were 2022 Canadian Championship winners. That to me was a special night, it was electric in BC Place and it was just a fantastic night of soccer. Also the last Major League Soccer meeting between these two Canadian sides, was a one-nil win for the Whitecaps at BC Place.

Stat of the game

Tonight we are looking into the category in this match is the expected goals as the Whitecaps rank 2nd in the league while on the other hand Toronto FC ranks 29th, so in this one the Whitecaps will have to be clinical with their finishing, as that's something that they've times struggled with, especially in certain games like in the one in San Jose, where they've outshot their opponents by so much, but the Caps still lost that game so against a league bottom Toronto FC in expected goals, you would need to either bury your chances clinically or you need to make Toronto not have major chances or else it might end up extremely costly for Vancouver. Do expect some huge chances for Vancouver, but don't be surprised if Toronto somehow capitalizes with some missed chances.

Prediction

I personally predict that the Whitecaps will have a huge advantage in the expected goals, as they'll like usual dominate a game but this time I believe against a TFC side that's struggling so much in form, I don't think the Whitecaps will throw this opportunity away to get the 3 points, as instead of going against the Whitecaps it'll go in favour with the Whitecaps in this game, as I think that they'll capitalize with their chances and they'll play really well against this Toronto side, as I predict a 3-1 win for the Whitecaps here in BMO Field, it'll be like a stoppage time goal to secure victory for the Whitecaps I think, so I think this will be a away day to remember for Vancouver.

Final Prediction: Toronto FC 1-3 Whitecaps

Man Of The Match Prediction

For me, I look no forward then Richie Laryea who previously played for TFC for around 2.5 years before joining forces with the West Coast of Canada in Vancouver. Whether if Laryea gets a very nice welcoming by Toronto fans, or gets a very bad reappearance getting splashed with boos by TFC fans, I believe either way he won't let the fans get into his head and he'll deliver a strong performance for The Blue and White, as he has been pretty impressive for me in his limited time here so far, as he is been a huge impact for the Whitecaps in those 4 appearances. And with how Toronto fans greet him, he will put on a show at BMO Field anyways, I think he'll get his first goal contribution as a Whitecap tonight and put in a strong show in against his former team.