Round 8 of the Isuzu UTE A-League season is upon us! Ahead of the action getting underway, aleagues.com.au previews all six of the contests.
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Friday, 6:00pm (AEDT): Western United v Brisbane Roar
The first iteration of the Aloisi Derby kicks off Round 8 in the Isuzu UTE A-League as Western United host Brisbane Roar to AAMI Park.
John Aloisi’s Western are rooted to the bottom of the table after falling to a sixth straight defeat last weekend, a 4-0 loss at the hands of Central Coast Mariners that he described as the worst in his tenure at the club.
Western have, however, won their solitary game at AAMI Park this season, defeating Melbourne City in Round 1 – their last victory of the campaign.
Meanwhile, Brisbane are flying under Ross Aloisi climbing into second in the standings after a 2-0 victory over Adelaide United last week.
Roar are now unbeaten in their last four games, which has come even with a mounting injury list that includes Florin Berenguer, Henry Hore, Corey Brown and Jonas Markovski – while Scott Neville and Antonee Burke-Gilroy were forced off against the Reds due to their own injury concerns.
Opta stat: Jay O’Shea (Brisbane Roar) has created 30 scoring chances in the 2023-24 A-League Men season, seven more than any other player in the competition; although, he’s made only one assist this campaign.
Western United v Brisbane Roar
Friday, December 15 2023
AAMI Park
Kick-off: 6:00pm (AEDT)
Broadcast: Paramount+
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Friday, 7:45pm (AEDT): Western Sydney Wanderers v Adelaide United
When Western Sydney Wanderers and Adelaide United take the field, there’s always one guarantee.
Goals and plenty of them.
The last three matches in all competitions have seen a total of 19 goals scored, including a 4-4 draw at Coopers Stadium last season. In fact, there’s only been one game in the last 15 meetings in all competitions that has had a clean sheet, which was a 0-0 draw in March 2022.
Both sides are determined to get back to winning ways after falling to defeat last Sunday at the hands of Melbourne Victory and Brisbane Roar respectively.
Wanderers almost came from the clouds to snatch a late point against Victory, falling to a dramatic 4-3 loss at CommBank Stadium, which was their first defeat in the league this campaign.
Meanwhile, Adelaide are currently in the midst of a down patch, having lost three of their last four games after starting the season with two huge wins over Central Coast Mariners and Melbourne City.
Opta stat: This will be the fifth meeting between Western Sydney Wanderers and Adelaide United at CommBank Stadium; three of the four games saw a total of five or more goals scored on the day while the other was a nil-all draw; Adelaide United are unbeaten in their last three such fixtures (W2 D1).
Western Sydney Wanderers v Adelaide United
Friday, December 15 2023
CommBank Stadium
Kick-off: 7:45pm (AEDT)
Broadcast: Paramount+
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Saturday, 6:00pm (AEDT): Newcastle Jets v Perth Glory
Is this the week Perth Glory finally end their interstate hoodoo?
Alen Stajcic’s side have only won one of their last 26 league matches outside of Western Australia (drawn four, lost 21), with that win coming in October 2022 against Central Coast Mariners in Gosford.
Glory currently sit second last after four consecutive defeats, but showed plenty of grit in their 2-1 loss to Melbourne City, where they took it right to the reigning premiers.
Their next test is against Newcastle Jets, a side fresh off a morale boosting 3-0 win away at the then, undefeated Wellington Phoenix.
Newcastle have been ultra competitive this season under Robbie Stanton, but will be looking to string together back-to-back wins for the first time under his tutelage this week.
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It’s the battle of the in-form strikers this weekend as both Apostolos Stamatelopoulos and Adam Taggart come into the game with six and four goals for the reason respectively – sitting behind Bruno Fornaroli (11 goals) in the race for the Golden Boot.
The two sides already played out a 2-2 draw in Round 1, with Stamatelopoulos finding the net in second-half stoppage time to salvage a point for the Jets.
Opta stat: Newcastle Jets are undefeated in their last eight A-League Men games against Perth Glory (W2 D6) with each of their last three encounters ending in a 2-all draw on the day.
Newcastle Jets v Perth Glory
Saturday, December 16 2023
McDonald Jones Stadium
Kick-off: 6:00pm (AEDT)
Broadcast: Paramount+
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Saturday, 7:45pm (AEDT): Melbourne Victory v Sydney FC
The second ‘Big Blue’ of the season emanates from AAMI Park as Melbourne Victory host Sydney FC.
Victory returned to winning ways in a thrilling 4-3 win over Western Sydney Wanderers, helped by a bag of four goals from Bruno Fornaroli who became the third player in A-Leagues history to reach 100 league goals.
It’s another important game for Fornaroli who looks to push his case ahead of the upcoming Asian Cup, with Socceroos boss Graham Arnold expected to pick his 23-man squad in the coming weeks.
“I’m sure he has to be in the mind of the national team coach because he’s scoring goals and he’s producing.” said Victory Head Coach Tony Popovic when speaking at his pre-match press conference on Friday. “I’m sure it’s a great headache that he has and I’m sure that he welcomes that.”
Tony Popovic’s side have already knocked off the Sky Blues once this season, winning 2-0 in Round 1 at Allianz Stadium thanks to goals from Fornaroli and Zinedine Machach.
“They’re a big club, it’s a big opponent for us,” said Popovic when discussing Saturday’s opponents. “They’re adapting to a new way of of maybe work at training, playing in a way that the new coach wants and they’re a very dangerous opponent.”
But the Sky Blues have a great record against Victory at AAMI Park, having not lost against Victory in Melbourne since January 2019.
Ufuk Talay’s tenure as Sydney boss has gotten off to a rocky start, winning two games and losing two matches, most recently falling to a 2-0 defeat to Macarthur FC.
They will be without goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne after he was sent off last Saturday, opening the door for Adam Pavlesic to make his first Isuzu UTE A-League start since the 2021-22 season.
Opta stat: Four of the last five A-League Men games between Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC have been won by the away team on the day, including a 2-1 win to Sydney FC when they last clashed at AAMI Park.
Melbourne Victory v Sydney FC
Saturday, December 16 2023
AAMI Park
Kick-off: 7:45pm (AEDT)
Broadcast: 10 Bold & Paramount+
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Sunday, 5pm (AEDT): Melbourne City v Central Coast Mariners
Melbourne City have been dealt a huge blow heading into their Grand Final rematch with Central Coast Mariners after it was revealed forward Mathew Leckie will be out for up to six weeks due to a hamstring injury.
“It’s a big blow for us but we just wish him a speedy recovery,” said Head Coach Aurelio Vidmar. “To be honest it was a little bit innocuous, he wasn’t even sprinting.
“He was almost standing still and ready to turn and just felt something. They say it’s around four to six weeks so unfortunately for the national team as well it’s not good.”
Leckie is now a serious doubt for the Asian Cup in January with Socceroos Head Coach Graham Arnold set to name his squad within the next week.
City return home for the first league game at AAMI Park since November 12 off the back of winning their last two league matches against Newcastle Jets and Perth Glory – but drew in mid-week against Zhejiang in the AFC Champions League.
As a result, Aurelio Vidmar’s side were knocked out of the tournament.
Meanwhile, the Mariners have picked up seven of a possible nine points in their last three league games, turning the tide significantly after losing their opening four matches of the campaign.
Mark Jackson’s Mariners also booked their place in the knockout stages of the AFC Cup after seeing off Stallion Laguna on Thursday night.
It’s the first time the two sides have locked horns since the Mariners demolished City 6-1 in June’s decider, but a lot has changed since then, including those marshalling the touchlines and the teams that take the field at AAMI Park.
Six of City’s starting XI (Jordan Bos, Tom Glover, Marco Tilio, Valon Berisha, Aiden O’Neill and Thomas Lam) have departed as has substitutes Florin Berenguer and Richard van der Venne, while Andrew Nabbout is also sidelined by injury, and coach Rado Vidosic has also left his post.
There’s also doubt surrounding the fitness of striker Jamie Maclaren who has been carrying an ankle injury in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, five of Central Coast’s starters including Joe Marston medallist Jason Cummings, Sammy Silvera, James McGarry, Beni Nkololo and Nectar Triantis have all left, as has coach Nick Montgomery.
In fact, all five goal scorers on the day – Van der Venne, Cummings, Silvera, Nkololo and Moresche – aren’t at their respective clubs anymore.
Opta stat: Melbourne City have won their last 11 consecutive games against Central Coast Mariners at AAMI Park in the A-League Men, keeping six clean sheets across that period; their last defeat to the Mariners at the venue came in March 2014.
Melbourne City v Central Coast Mariners
Sunday, December 17 2023
AAMI Park
Kick-off: 5:00pm (AEDT)
Broadcast: 10 Bold & Paramount+
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Monday, 7:00pm (AEDT): Macarthur FC v Wellington Phoenix
Round 8 wraps up in Campbelltown as league leaders Macarthur FC welcome Wellington Phoenix to Sydney’s south-west.
The Bulls are undefeated and sitting top of the league to start the season, continuing their brilliant campaign to date with a 2-0 win over Sydney FC.
Mile Sterjovski’s side also booked their place in the knockout stages of the AFC Cup in mid-week, seeing off Dynamic Herb Cebu.
It’s been an incredible rise up the standings for Sterjovski’s charges who only a matter of months ago won the wooden spoon after a disappointing end to the 2022-23 campaign.
Their opponents Wellington are fresh off their first loss in the league this season, falling to a 3-0 loss at the hands of the Jets.
“It’s business as usual,” said Italiano when discussing Wellington’s first loss of the season. “We’ve changed nothing, it’s just pretty much back to normal.
“Part of any learning process is going through the ups and, more importantly, how you deal with losing, the downs. It’s going to happen, there are going to be games when you play really well and lose or play poorly and get rewarded.”
The ‘Nix are yet to lose on the road in the league this season, showing tremendous mettle away from home to grind out results.
Opta stat: Macarthur FC are undefeated in their last seven A-League Men games (W4 D3) including wins in each of their last two games in the competition; the last time they won more in succession was a four-game streak from November to December in 2021.
Macarthur FC v Wellington Phoenix
Monday, December 18 2023
Campbelltown Stadium
Kick-off: 7pm (AEDT)
Broadcast: Paramount+
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