The Liberty A-League showdown between Western Sydney Wanderers and Melbourne City has been relocated and pushed back to Sunday due to the ongoing flooding situation in New South Wales.
Western Sydney’s match against premiership-chasing City was meant to form a Saturday doubleheader, headlined by the Isuzu UTE A-League derby between the Wanderers and Sydney FC at CommBank Stadium.
While the A-League Men derby will go ahead as planned on Saturday, the Liberty A-League fixture will instead be played at Wanderers Football Park the following day.
In a statement on Friday, the A-Leagues said: “The pitch at CommBank Stadium has been deemed fit for play for a single match this weekend, but concerns have been raised regarding the possibility of the surface being unable to support back-to-back matches due to the excessive rainfall that has continued throughout the week.
“The increase in flood waters in the area around the venue has resulted in further flooding of the drainage system and has continued for a number of days due to being in close proximity to the flooded Parramatta River. The pitch has been unable to drain off excess water and therefore the surface unable to thoroughly dry.
“To ensure both games can proceed this weekend, the Liberty A-League Women’s match between Western Sydney Wanderers and Melbourne City has been relocated to Wanderers Football Park, with the kick off time of 12:05pm AEDT on Sunday 6 March.
“We thank our clubs and the venue staff at CommBank Stadium for their efforts given the extreme weather conditions that have been faced.”
City are still in the hunt for the Premiers Plate but must beat the lowly Wanderers and hope leaders Sydney FC slip up against Adelaide United.
