Western Sydney Wanderers and Sydney FC have the chance to earn local bragging rights and underline their Hyundai A-League credentials in Saturday evening’s top-of-the-table Hyundai A-League Sydney Derby.
Reigning Champions Sydney FC and their Red and Black rivals are the only teams to post back-to-back wins during the first two rounds of the campaign.
After beating Adelaide United 3-2 on the opening day, the Sky Blues survived a big scare against Wellington Phoenix last weekend, a match in which they were largely outplayed.
It is why talk of a power shift is beginning to stir in Western Sydney, who followed up their Round 1 against Central Coast Mariners with a big 2-1 triumph against Melbourne Victory last Friday.
With the new Bankwest Stadium sure to be pumping, the Wanderers will feel this is a fantastic opportunity to overturn a nightmare recent record against their neighbours.
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Saturday, 26 October 2019
Kick-off: 7.30pm AEDT
Venue: Bankwest Stadium
Broadcast: FOX Sports 505
Stream: MyFootball Live App, Kayo Sports
Ways to watch
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Team news
Western Sydney Wanderers FC: 1.Daniel LOPAR (gk), 4.Dylan McGOWAN, 5.Daniel GEORGIEVSKI, 6.Matthew JURMAN, 7.Mitchell DUKE (c), 9.Nicolai MULLER, 11.Bruce KAMAU, 13.Tass MOURDOUKOUTAS, 14.Alex MEIER, 16.Mathieu CORDIER, 17.Keanu BACCUS, 19.Pirmin SCHWEGLER, 22.Nicholas SULLIVAN, 23.Kosta GROZOS, 27.Kwame YEBOAH, 29.Daniel WILMERING, 34.Patrick ZIEGLER, 35.Mohamed ADAM, 37.Jake TREW, 40.Nicholas SUMAN (gk)
**2-4 to be omitted**
Ins: 9.Nicolai MULLER (new signing), 11.Bruce KAMAU (returns from injury), 34.Patrick ZIEGLER (returns from injury)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 8.Jordan O’DOHERTY (knee), 10.Radoslaw MAJEWSKI (knee), 21.Tarek ELRICH (hamstring)
Sydney FC squad: 1.Andrew REDMAYNE (gk), 2.Patrick FLOTTMANN, 4.Alex WILKINSON (c), 5.Alex BAUMJOHANN, 6.Ryan McGOWAN, 8.Paulo RETRE, 9.Adam LE FONDRE, 10.Milos NINKOVIC, 11.Kosta BARBAROUSES, 13.Brandon O’NEILL, 16.Joel KING, 17.Anthony CACERES, 18.Luke IVANOVIC, 19.Chris ZUVELA, 20.Tom HEWARD-BELLE (gk), 21.Harry VAN DER SAAG, 23.Rhyan GRANT, 24.Marco TILIO, 26.Luke BRATTAN, 27.Jordi SWIBEL.
**2-4 to be omitted**
In: 19. Chris ZUVELA (promoted), 24. Marco TILIO (promoted)
Out: Nil
Unavailable: 3.Ben WARLAND (ACL – indefinite), 7.Michael ZULLO (leg – 1 week), 12.Trent BUHAGIAR (ACL – indefinite), 25.Ryan TEAGUE (International duty).
Did you know?
- Sydney FC have lost only one of their last 16 Hyundai A-League matches against the Western Sydney Wanderers (W10, D5); however, this will be the first time in the competition they meet their crosstown rivals at the new Bankwest Stadium.
- The Wanderers have won their first two matches of the Hyundai A-League 2019/20 Season, they’ve never previously begun a season in such a manner and they haven’t won more matches in succession overall since a three-match span in March-April 2017.
- The Sky Blues have made the most shots on target (15) of any team this season. Only two other teams – Western United and Western Sydney Wanderers (11 each) – have made more than 10.
