Toronto FC vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 2020 MLS Match Preview

2020 MLS Regular Season – Week 6
Toronto FC vs. Vancouver Whitecaps
BMO Field – Toronto
August 21 – 8:00 PM ET

TV: TSN 4/5

STREAMING: MLS LIVE on ESPN+ in US

After Toronto FC took the opener Tuesday, the Vancouver Whitecaps look for revenge in the second of back-to-back matches at BMO Field Friday night.

Led by Pablo Piatti's brace, the Reds cruised to a 3-0 victory, extending their unbeaten streak to 16 consecutive regular season matches, equaling the fifth-longest streak in MLS history (7 wins and 9 draws), according to Opta. Toronto also jumped in front in the race for Canada's berth in the Concacaf Champions League.

Toronto FC, the Vancouver Whitecaps and Montreal Impact will play each other three times for a total of six games each in the first phase of the regular season restart. In addition to counting towards the MLS regular season standings, the Canadian team that earns the most points against the other two Canadian clubs during those matches will qualify for the 2020 Canadian Championship.

Toronto FC

It was vintage Toronto FC performance in a handy 3-0 win. Piatti, the Argentine DP, placed his stamp on the proceedings with a pair of goals in a Man of the Match performance and Nick DeLeon placed the icing on the cake with a late insurance goal. Jozy Altidore and Jonathan Osorio were back in the starting XI, the Reds were back at BMO, and although the fans weren't in the stands, they also weren't very far away, their voices heard from outside the stadium even when the teams exited the tunnel for warmups.

Now the challenge for Toronto FC? Do it again on Friday.

“Now we need to build off of it and come back on Friday and have another good performance,” Toronto FC coach Greg Vanney said after the match. “Keep the same intensity, keep the ball moving just as fast, not try to overcomplicate things, be in the right spots for each other, and have good reactions in transition because [Vancouver] are a team that can hurt you if you're not attentive to things. We’ve got to have another performance to back this one up tonight.”

Updated team roster
Injury Report:
- OUT: Achara (M) - ACL surgery
- QUESTIONABLE: Ayo Akinola (F) - hamstring injury
Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: None
International duty: None

Vancouver Whitecaps

That momentum and the good vibes earned in Orlando went out the window in Toronto. The Whitecaps took one on the chin in their first match back. They managed just 24.8 percent possession for the game. And often that possession was short-lived.

“That’s the major problem, tonight," Marc dos Santos said after the match. "The major problem is every time we had the ball, we gave it away so easily so we weren’t able to connect. We didn’t look dynamic and we didn’t [show] the energy that we usually do or [that we] saw throughout the week."

Perhaps that's the Inbeom Hwang effect after the South Korean international transferred to Russian club Rubin Kazan a few days earlier. The Whitecaps managed just 32 attacking third successful passes over 90 minutes. Toronto, by contrast, made 246. Will there be changes. to the 4-4-2 formation? To the starting XI? It's clear something will need to change Friday night if the Whitecaps are to take something from their time in Toronto.

What is clear is that Fredy Montero won't be involved. Dos Santos said only it was a "technical option" to leave the Colombian forward back in Vancouver.

"The reality is there's another game Friday and we have to be much better on Friday because there's days like tonight where you just have to admit the superiority of the opponent," dos Santos said. "That's just the reality of it."

Updated team roster
Injury Report:
- OUT: Janio Bikel (M) - left adductor strain
- OUT: Maxime Crépeau (GK) - fractured left thumb
Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: None
International duty: None