Hold on to your hats.
We’re approaching the end of the Liberty A-League regular season with speed and there’s no telling where the road to its conclusion will lead, with the silverware and finals slots all up for grabs in a hotly-contested campaign.
Four teams remain in the hunt for the Premiers’ Plate and six are within reach of the finals series. Some sides have two games to play, others have three or four. There are injury fears, teams gathering momentum and others faltering at the final hurdle – and not to mention the three-way tie for the Golden Boot blurring the line between the competition for both individual and team honours.
In a nutshell, the Liberty A-League is tight. The difference between glory and despair is minimal, and here’s the lay of the land as we head into a run home that will also be critical in the final standings of the new Club Championship, which combines the tables of both male and female A-Leagues competitions for those clubs competing in both leagues.
What is the Club Championship? Read more here
The equation
Five teams have a genuine chance of ending the regular season in the top four. Newcastle Jets aren’t out of the reckoning, but are 12 points behind fourth-placed Victory with four games to play, making their claims for a top-four finish slender at best.
So let’s focus on the top five. Here’s the standings heading into the final week of the February Football Frenzy:
Two results over the weekend blew the finals race open: Melbourne Victory’s 2-0 loss to Perth Glory, and Melbourne City’s stunning 2-1 win over league-leaders Sydney FC.
What’s important to note is the games in hand each team in the top five possess.
Every side will play 14 games this season: Sydney FC have two remaining, as do third-placed Adelaide United and fifth-placed Perth. Victory and City have three to play – which importantly takes Sydney’s premiership hopes out of their hands.
After City’s weekend win, Radio Vidosic’s side will finish on top of the table if they manage to win all three of their remaining games.
All three of those fixtures come against teams outside the top five.
A quick word on the Jets, because mathematically, they’re alive: Ash Wilson’s team have four games to play, and trail Melbourne Victory by 12 points. Four wins from four – and healthy wins at that – would draw the Jets level with fourth-placed Victory if Jeff Hopkins’ side don’t record another point moving forward.
Oh, and Perth would need to pick up one point or less as well.
It’s not impossible, but don’t bank on a post-season appearance from the Jets.
The run in
Here are the remaining fixtures for each team in the top five:
- SYDNEY FC: Perth Glory (a), Adelaide United (a)
- MELBOURNE CITY: Brisbane Roar (H), Western Sydney Wanderers (a), Newcastle Jets (H)
- ADELAIDE UNITED: Melbourne Victory (H), Sydney FC (a)
- MELBOURNE VICTORY: Canberra United (a), Adelaide United (a), Canberra United (H)
- PERTH GLORY: Sydney FC (H), Wellington Phoenix (a)
Keep a close eye on the following fixtures between two teams in the top five:
- Adelaide United v Melbourne Victory on Saturday, February 26
- Perth Glory v Sydney FC on Sunday, February 27
- Adelaide United v Sydney FC on Sunday, March 6
Podcast View
“The top four battle right now in the (A-League Women’s) is incredible to watch.”
That was the word from the experts on this week’s episode of The Official A-Leagues Podcast, where Amy Chapman and Robbie Cornthwaite joined David Weiner to discuss the run home in the Liberty A-League.
Injuries to star performers, the Sky Blues’ worrying form on the road and the resilience of a Perth side refusing to say die were all on the agenda as Cornthwaite and Chapman had their say on the run toward the finals.
Listen below, or via Spotify, or Apple Podcasts.
‘The first cracks in Sydney’: Sky Blues forget to pack home form in their travels
In their first nine games of the season Sydney FC recorded eight wins and one draw, scoring 29 goals and conceding just one.
In the two games since the Sky Blues have drawn and lost, scoring three goals and conceding three.
The difference? There could be multiple factors, including playing two title rivals in Melbourne Victory and City.
But one alarming change was in location. Sydney’s first nine games all took place inside New South Wales, with their winless run only beginning once they hit the road.
“It’s been so interesting that last week was the first time Sydney had gotten on a flight for any game, which has just kind of shown that a) there’s a tonne of teams around Sydney, but b) just how much COVID has affected the program and schedule,” Chapman said.
“I walked past them at the airport and thought jeez they look fierce, they look fit, they look confident – and they’ve actually had two shockers on the road, really.”
Chapman added: “If anything, I think that’s the first cracks I’ve seen in Sydney. In fact if I had a key take-away, that’s two games on the trot they’ve not been firing on all cylinders as they have in every other game.”
Mounting injuries a cause for concern
A potential ACL injury to City star Holly McNamara is the latest blow to a key player in a finals contending side.
The rising Matildas star is a potential Julie Dolan Medalist in the eyes of Chapman after taking the league by storm in her debut Liberty A-League campaign. But injuries to the likes of Sydney’s Ellie Brush, Victory’s Kayla Morrison, Amy Jackson and Alana Murphy along with a potential knee injury to current Golden Boot joint-leader Chelsie Dawber at Adelaide continue to throw spanners in the works for the teams gunning for the premiers plate.
“It’s a fascinating battle up the top there and (for) Melbourne City, the only sour point on (their weekend win) – and you guys know I’m a bit sad about this – is obviously Holly McNamara,” Chapman said.
“She’s been my favourite player all season, would have tipped her to be the Julie Dolan Medalist potentially.
“She’s obviously gone off with potential ACL injury – not confirmed yet, fingers crossed there – but that’s certainly a moment where any football fan in Australia just had a huge sigh of concern, because she is an absolute talent.”
Cornthwaite added: “Amy Jackson and Alana Murphy have both gone down for the Victory – I think one of those could be a serious injury. Kayla Morrison is already out as well. That really opens up the top four race for them. They looked like they were sort of guaranteed a spot, but now Adelaide’s jumped them and Perth are coming home with a wet sail as well.
“It’s a really, really interesting battle.”
Golden Boot race a battle of titans
Three players are tied on 10 goals heading into the final rounds of the season:
- Chelsie Dawber: Adelaide United (two games to play)
- Fiona Worts: Adelaide United (two games to play)
- Hannah Wilkinson: Melbourne City (three games to play)
Wilkinson’s City have a game in hand on Adelaide, but with the New Zealand spearhead on international duty the three players are likely to have two cracks each at adding to their total by the season’s end.
The collective output of Worts and Dawber has been incredible considering no Adelaide player had ever reached 10 games in a single season in the club’s history.
Both Dawber and Worts reached that figure in the same season, on the same day: February 18 in a 4-1 win over Wellington.
“You look at Adelaide United – how can they not make the finals when they’ve got Fiona Worts and Chelsie Dawber?” Cornthwaite said.
“Both are on 10 goals each – they’ve scored 20 goals between them, that’s remarkable.”
Don’t sleep on Perth
One of the stories of the season is Perth Glory, a team winless in 2020/21 completely rejuvenated this season after head coach Alex Epakis’ off-season journey up and down the east coast of Australia in search of players willing to buy in to his Glory vision.
With six wins on the board this season, Perth have blown expectations out of the water.
Two positive results from their remaining games won’t guarantee a place in the top four, but will heap pressure on both Victory and the Reds.
A mouthwatering clash with Sydney FC awaits on Saturday, February 26 – a game with implications not only for Perth’s finals fate, but the Sky Blues’ tilt for the premiers plate.
“Perth Glory, they are playing like a team that is so close-knit,” Chapman said. “We obviously know they’re having to live in Sydney all together, it’s a totally unique environment and they’re itching to get home but also itching to make the finals.
“They are so close, they didn’t win a game last season so (defeating Victory 2-0 last time out) is a huge win for them. Honestly it’s massive and it does blow out that race.”
Savour the run home
The stage is set for a gripping finale to this campaign. The possibilities and permutations are seemingly endless, but in two weeks’ time all will be finalised.
In the meantime, relish the drama. Get the calculator out with every goal scored and point earned, and ask yourself: can the climax to a season’s end get any better than this?
