The Vancouver Whitecaps will look to boost their odds of reaching a third straight Voyageurs Cup final when they take on Pacific FC at Starlight Stadium on Wednesday.

In a scheduling quirk, the first and second legs of the tie will be separated by over a month thanks to Leagues Cup. That means a strong performance this week will give Vancouver a cushion for the second match, which will come ahead of a busy run in for MLS play.

Things have already been hectic for the Caps, meaning we will likely see a good bit of rotation in the midweek, particularly given that they will not have Ali Ahmed to cope with the mandate to play three Canadian players in the starting lineup.

Vancouver would, however, like to avoid their close shave in the last round of the competition, sneaking through on away goals after Cavalry beat the MLS side at BC Place.

Pacific, of course, have their historic win in 2021 as inspiration for Wednesday. There were no such problems for the Caps last year, when they went to Starlight and walked away with a 3-0 victory, despite a couple of nervy moments early in the second half.

The Canadian Premier League side currently sit smack in the middle of the table amid a log-jam of teams behind league leaders Athletic Ottawa. Pacific actually are coming off a win over Ottawa, albeit one in which they were comfortably outclassed in expected goals, shots, and shots on target.

That result should, however, be a warning sign for the Caps. Pacific have conceded the fewest goals in the league, put in the most successful tackles and have shown the ability to sit back and rely on Emil Gazdov, who has been one of the top keepers in the CPL and is tied for the lead in clean sheets.

The problem for Pacific is they also are last in non-penalty goals, with only two players on the team (Sean Young and Aymen Sellouf) tallying multiple times this season.

Pacific typically lines up with a 4-2-3-1, a sign they will likely do all they can to jam up the middle of the park to make the Caps’ life miserable and force them out onto the wings, as MLS sides have been fairly successful in doing so far this season.

The Caps will be handed a boost with the return of Damir Kreilach to the bench over the weekend and it wouldn’t surprise me if he and Brian White did a split shift. Ryan Gauld has been run into the ground but he has been the only player to unpick CPL teams to date and you would think he’d make an appearance as well.

Otherwise, one imagines guys like Ralph Priso, Levonte Johnson and Isaac Boehmer will start to boost the Canadian quota. Beyond that, I would expect a mix of starters and depth pieces to try and see this across the finish line. While the Caps don’t have far to travel for this one, they will have to hop on a plane shortly thereafter to get to St. Louis and I’m sure Vanni Sartini will be well aware of that fact.

This will be an interesting one, as Pacific are well-positioned to sit deep and not give up any easy goals. But whether they will be able to get a set piece, penalty or counter attacking chance to try and pull an upset also remains in doubt, particularly given that the Caps have two legs in which to break them down.

I would be a bit more worried about this if it was still a one-off match but there are some signs of danger for Vancouver here that mean supporters will probably not feel totally comfortable if the Caps don’t exit the first leg with a lead — or maybe that’s just me.