Over the you Wanderers. After the Sky Blues put up a decent showing against Arsenal on Thursday night, Western Sydney get a crack at the Premier League giants at ANZ Stadium tonight (Sat).
Another full house will be in attendance to see what should be another cracking clash in Sydney’s west.
WHERE: ANZ Stadium, Sydney
HOW TO WATCH IT: The clash is being shown live on SBS VICELAND from 7.30pm
KICK-OFF: The match gets underway at 8pm
SQUAD NEWS
*Wanderers new marquee Oriol Riera is set to make his club debut – probably off the bench – for Tony Popovic’s side.
*Fresh from scoring on his debut against the Sky Blues, record signing Alexandre Lacazette could start in this one alongside Olivier Giroud in attack.
*The match will be the first chance for Wanderers fans to see new recruits Josh Risdon, Michael Thwaite and Roly Bonevacia in action.
WHAT THE MANAGERS SAID
Arsene Wenger
“It’s important [Alexandre Lacazette] gets that [goalscoring duck] off his shoulders because you’re expected to score as a striker.
“So you could see he was happy [to score against Sydney FC].
“But what we look for is basically to play at a good pace… and for long periods in the game that was quite good for us and a game with a tough opposition and they did fight for every ball.”
Tony Popovic
“It’s very early in our pre-season but a game like this always helps the players, and to test themselves against the best.
“For a lot of our young players they’ll be coming up against their idols and they get a chance to showcase themselves and showcase Australian football.
“Hopefully we can show Arsenal how football has progressed in this country and hopefully they’ll take away fond memories of their time here.”
PREDICTION
Arsenal 0-2 Wanderers
The Gunners looked slick against Sydney FC on Thursday night and you would expect them to be even better after a couple of extra days to settle in Sydney. Another bumper crowd will ensure more magical moments at ANZ.
