Adelaide United defender Ersan Gulum believes Sunday’s Elimination Final clash with arch-rivals Melbourne Victory is set to be the most entertaining clash of the Finals Series.
In a do-or-die encounter, the Reds will start firm underdogs when they travel to Melbourne to tackle Victory at AAMI Park.
The two sides split the head-to-head meetings in the regular season but Gulum insists the form guide is irrelevant in finals football.
“I don’t think we have to worry too much about what they’re going to do. If anything, we just worry about what we’re going to do,” Gulum said.
“Finals is a very different feeling. It’s a very different football style. Finals is all about errors and mistakes. You’ve got to make the least amount of mistakes in the game to win.
“I think we’ll just play our game [and] play to our strengths. I think when we play to our strengths and play simple football and play the football that Marco (Kurz) wants us to play, I think we’re a very hard team to beat.
“We’ll show that on Sunday.”
Victory and Adelaide have been involved in some epic finals encounters in the past, most notably the 2006/07 Semi-Final and the 2008/09 Grand Final, both won by Melbourne.
And Gulum admits he’s expecting the ‘original rivalry’ to again deliver another classic on Sunday.
“There’s a history there isn’t there with the finals. Looking at the finals campaign, I think the most entertaining game is going to be Adelaide versus Victory isn’t it,” Gulum said.
“A lot of fans out there will be glued to the TV watching this game for sure. I think it’s going to be a great, entertaining game.
“There’ll be a few tackles flying in here and there I’m sure but it’s all apart of Finals Series.
“It’s going to be a great game to watch I think.”
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