Match preview: Perth Glory v Sydney FC

Sydney FC will face a real litmus test of their title credentials when they visit ladder-leaders Perth Glory at nib Stadium on Friday evening (kick off 9.00pm AEDT).

The Sky Blues bounced back from two average performances with a 3-1 win over Western Sydney Wanderers in the Sydney Derby last time out.

But the jury is still out on whether Steve Corica’s men are as good as the side that won back-to-back Premierships under Graham Arnold in the last two seasons.

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Speaking of the Premier’s Plate, Perth Glory are the side to catch, cementing outright first place following their 2-0 victory over Newcastle Jets.

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Sitting pretty on 20 points, Perth is six points clear of the Sky Blues and playing some clinical, stoic football.

Glory will present a much tougher challenge than they have in previous years, with Tony Popovic’s new-look side having produced three wins and one draw at home in the 2018/19 Season.

Historically, Sydney have the upper hand on their opponents and head into this Round 9 contest having won the last eight Hyundai A-League meetings between the two sides.

Sydney FC have scored 29 goals in that run, which includes a 3-0 win in a Semi-Final in the 2016/17 Season.

It’s also a milestone match for Sky Blues midfielder Brandon O’Neill, who plays his 100th Hyundai A-League match, coming up against his former club.

Key Opta stats

Sydney FC have won their last eight games in a row against Perth Glory, scoring an average of just under four goals per game in that span, and they are unbeaten in their last six visits to nib Stadium (W5, D1).
Perth Glory are undefeated in their last eight games overall (W6, D2); the last time they went longer without defeat was a 10-game stretch in 2014/15 (W8, D2).
Perth Glory (once every 5.4 fouls) and Sydney FC (5.7) have conceded a yellow card more frequently as a ratio to fouls conceded than any other teams this campaign.

Ins and outs

Perth Glory squad: 1.Tando VELAPHI (gk), 3.Jason DAVIDSON, 4.Shane LOWRY, 5.Ivan FRANJIC, 6.Dino DJULBIC, 7.Joel CHIANESE, 9.Andy KEOGH, 11.Brendon SANTALAB, 14.Chris HAROLD, 15.Brandon WILSON, 16.Tomislav MRCELA, 19.Chris IKONOMIDIS, 20.Jake BRIMMER, 22.Fabio FERREIRA, 23.Scott NEVILLE, 27.JUANDE, 33.Liam REDDY (gk), 88.Neil KILKENNY **two to be omitted**

Ins: 23.Scott NEVILLE (returns from injury), 27.JUANDE (returns from injury)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 2.Alex GRANT (foot – 2 weeks), 13.Matthew SPIRANOVIC (hamstring – 1 week), 17.Diego Castro (hamstring – 1 week)

Sydney FC squad: 1.Andrew REDMAYNE (gk), 2.Aaron CALVER, 4.Alex WILKINSON, 6.Josh BRILLANTE, 7.Michael ZULLO, 8.Paulo RETRE, 9.Adam LE FONDRE, 10.Milos NINKOVIC, 11.Daniel DE SILVA, 13.Brandon O’NEILL, 14.Alex BROSQUE (c), 18.Jacob TRATT, 20.Alex CISAK (gk), 21.Charles LOKOLI-NGOY, 22.Siem DE JONG, 23.Rhyan GRANT, 24.Cam DEVLIN, 31.Luke IVANOVIC. **two to be omitted**

Ins: 4.Alex WILKINSON (return from illness), 21.Charles LOKOLI-NGOY (promoted), 24.Cam DEVLIN (promoted)
Outs: 5.Jop van der LINDEN (hamstring – 3 weeks)
Unavailable: 3.Ben WARLAND (foot – 3 weeks), 12.Trent BUHAGIAR (ACL – indefinite), 19.Chris ZUVELA (knee – indefinite)