Tuesday night in Winnipeg, the Vancouver Whitecaps will begin their hunt for a fourth straight Canadian Championship title with a first leg match against Valour FC at Princess Auto Stadium.

Under former Whitecaps assistant Phil Dos Santos, Valour are second from bottom in the CPL table, having accumulated just 4 points from 6 matches thus far, and being tied for the least goals scored (with 6), and tied for the worst goal differential (at -7).

Valour will come into this match with a bit of momentum, having most recently secured their only win of the season, a 2-1 Friday night result against York United, who is currently last in the CPL table, also on just 4 points, but with 7 matches played.

So, why have Valour struggled so much? Historically, this has been one of the teams in the CPL with the least overall roster talent, and they’ve probably been the least ambitious club in the league from a roster construction and overall management perspective. Phil Dos Santos has done the most he can to extract decent results, but you can’t ignore the fact this club has finished dead last each of the past two seasons in the league.

The thing that has been frustrating about this season to date is that the roster looks like it’s in a much better position. Valour made some nice additions this off-season, bringing in Rocco Romeo from Vancouver FC, Zach Fernandez from Halifax, and Kris Twardek from Ottawa, all of whom they hoped would be impact additions. While that’s worked to some extent, Valour still look a step short of the full picture.

Chiefly, the Manitoban club has not been able to reign things in defensively. The combination of Rocco Romeo and Gianfranco Facchineri was an unmitigated disaster for the team, and though things have been slightly better since Kelsey Egwu has stepped in, it’s not been a reliable part of Valour’s game.

Speaking of Egwu, while it’s a great stat for the youngster, you probably don’t want your centreback who’s played only 225 minutes to be tied for the team lead in goals. Beyond Egwu and Shaan Hundal (who each have two goals), there simply hasn’t been enough finish in the box for Valour, and when you struggle inside both areas, the game is always going to be an uphill battle.

Alright, flipping things over to Vancouver briefly, the key thing to watch for the Whitecaps on Tuesday night will be who features in the starting XI. With such a quick turnaround from Saturday and the nature of the opponent, I imagine there will be some substantial rotation.

Two names that jump to mind are Ralph Priso and Jeevan Badwal. The young Canadians have been strong in their MLS appearances this year, and could be forces in the midfield if they are allowed to run a full 90 minutes. Equally, this could spell another start for Liam Mackenzie, who made a surprise debut with the first team back at the end of March. Also, after coming off the bench on the weekend, might Jayden Nelson terrorize the Valour defense in a bid to earn more MLS starts? Isaac Boehmer, the Can Champ specialist from last season, could also feature.

At the end of the day, this is a matchup where the end result shouldn’t be in much dispute, as long as the Whitecaps play to their capabilities. After a bit of a wake-up call on the weekend in Austin, I have to imagine the Whitecaps will come out sharp in this one.