A terrific run of form has seen Perth Glory lose just one of their past 10 Hyundai A-League matches.
A terrific run of form has seen Perth Glory lose just one of their past 10 Hyundai A-League matches.
Four wins from their past five mean Perth are officially the form team of the competition and they have jumped to third on the table as a result.
Comfortable home wins against Melbourne Victory, Gold Coast United and Newcastle Jets have delighted the Glory faithful in recent times, with 10 goals coming in those three victories.
Ian Ferguson’s side will be hoping to repeat the dose when they entertain Brisbane Roar on Saturday as they look to break a club record in the Hyundai A-League by winning four matches at home in a row.
But Victory (eighth on the table), Gold Coast (10th) and Newcastle (seventh) are all outside the finals places, meaning a game against the second-placed Roar will be a far tougher assignment for Perth.
The last time the two sides met Brisbane broke the record for the longest unbeaten streak in Australian sport as they destroyed Perth 4-0 at Suncorp Stadium.
The match marked the Roar’s 36th match in a row where they avoided defeat and in a simply stunning first half of football, Besart Berisha and Issey Nakajima-Farran both bagged doubles.
Will Perth do the same in their bid to break a record?
History says no.
Of the 20 Hyundai A-League meetings between the two sides, Brisbane have won 12 and drawn five, with Perth notching just three victories against the Roar.
The last of those came more than two years ago as Scott Neville and Anthony Skorich netted in a 2-0 home win for the Glory.
The game is likely to be high scoring going by the statistics, which show 70 goals being scored in the meetings between the two sides at an average of 3.5 per game.
Brisbane have scored 45 of those goals, with 11 coming in their past four matches against Perth.
The Glory’s task will not be made easier by the likely absence of influential midfielder Liam Miller, who injured his hamstring against Newcastle on Saturday.
Ferguson will be hopeful that a blood injection into Shane Smeltz’s ankle will have him fit for the match, with the New Zealand striker – who is Perth’s top scorer this season with nine goals – having scored four in his past six matches.
All signs indicate an exciting match will be played out on Saturday, so don’t miss it as the exciting Hyundai A-League season continues.
