‘Everyone wants to see them lose’: Baisden, Roar ready to shock City and sneak into finals

Brisbane Roar forward Rylee Baisden says her side are ready to hand Melbourne City their first loss of the campaign as they attempt to claw their way back into the top four in the final round of the season.

Brisbane are in fifth position on the Westfield W-League table heading into their Round 14 clash with City at AAMI Park on Sunday afternoon (4:00pm AEDT).

The Roar sit two points behind Western Sydney Wanderers in fourth and three behind Melbourne Victory in third, and they can still mathematically overtake both teams by the end of the weekend’s action.

But to do so they’ll need to defeat City, the already-crowned Premiers who have conceded just three goals all campaign and are yet to lose a game heading into the last round of action.

MATCH PREVIEW: Melbourne City v Brisbane Roar
READ: Despotovski – Glory ready to pounce on ‘under pressure’ Wanderers
READ: Weber praises Adelaide’s resolve as Reds finish season with a bang

To some it may seem an impossible task, but Baisden prefers to see it as the perfect opportunity for Brisbane to hand City a reality check while proving their own credentials as a Finals Series contender.

“I think everyone is a bit anxious,” Baisden said.

“But I think everyone is still hanging on to a bit of hope that some of the results on Saturday will go our way, and that we can go and give City a little piece of what everyone has been wanting to give them all year.

“I think everyone wants to see them lose, so I think it will be good if we can go in there and quieten them down a bit.

“A lot of people think because they’re in first place you need to give them a lot of respect, but I think a lot of people give them a bit too much respect and think they’re this unbeatable team.”

Baisden and the Roar have been behind the eight ball since falling out of the top four in Round 11; they’ve been in fifth position ever since, but a dominant 5-0 win over Canberra United in Round 13 has seen them bounce right back into Finals Series contention with one round to play.

Victory face second-placed Sydney FC on Saturday afternoon while the Wanderers travel to Perth – who have notched three wins on the bounce including shock wins over the Roar and Sydney FC in their last two games.

Brisbane and City will play out the final game of the regular season on Sunday afternoon, and with all other fixtures completed before the game the Roar could head into the contest knowing a win will secure them a Finals Series berth.

And Baisden is more than confident her side are capable of pulling it off.

“[City] haven’t lost, but I think a lot of teams have been in it [against them],” Baisden said.

“Last time we played them we were in it, we just didn’t finish.

“I think we’re in good form right now… everyone knows what’s at stake on Sunday so I think everyone is going to show up and play their A-game.”

“I definitely don’t want to lose on the weekend, I’ll tell you that,” Baisden continued.

“It would be awesome to finish strong, have some hardware to hold up, and then go home.

“I’m looking forward to winning on the weekend, and hopefully getting into finals.”