The first Sydney Derby of the Hyundai A-League 2018/19 Season is here, with Sydney FC hosting the Wanderers at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
While both sides failed to register a win in the opening round, history is on the Sky Blues side in this fixture, winning eight of the last 13 clashes in the Hyundai A-League.
WILKO’S SUBTLE JIBE: Sydney FC have the ‘mental edge’ over Wanderers
READ MORE: How to watch Hyundai A-League Round 2
WATCH FOR FREE: How to watch the Hyundai A-League LIVE and FREE
And Sydney FC will be buoyed by the fact new striker Adam Le Fondre is in excellent goal-scoring form.
But Markus Babbel’s Wanderers showed great fighting spirit to snatch a draw against Perth Glory last weekend and would loving nothing more than to get revenge for their loss to Sydney FC in the recent FFA Cup Semi Finals.
This clash never disappoints and this one should be a ripper!
Tight tussles and plenty of thrills, it's the #SydneyDerby of course!!
Don't miss out, make sure you're at the @scg for all the action! 🎟 – https://t.co/prVoz76elJ#SydneyIsSkyBlue #ComeWithUs pic.twitter.com/ayWaQplpZY
— Sydney FC (@SydneyFC) October 23, 2018
KEY OPTA STATS
- The Wanderers have won just one of the last 13 Sydney Derbies (D4, L8), conceeding 10 goals in the last three clashes.
- Sydney FC has kept the Wanderers scoreless in the second half in their last seven matches; the last time the Wanderers scored a second-half goal in the Derby was in Round 15 in 2015/16.
- Spanish striker Oriol Riera has scored three goals in his last three games and has scored two of the last three Wanderers goals in the Derby.
WHAT THEY SAID
“Obviously, the belief when we come up against the Wanderers is very good because of the record we’ve got. That gives us a little bit of a mental edge there I suppose and after beating them a couple of weeks ago we’ll go into the game very, very confident.” – Sydney FC defender Alex Wilkinson
INS AND OUTS
Sydney FC Squad: 1.Andrew REDMAYNE (Gk), 2.Aaron CALVER, 4.Alex WILKINSON, 5.Jop van der LINDEN, 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), 20.Alex CISAK (Gk), 21.Charles LOKOLI-N’GOY, 22.Siem DE JONG, 23.Rhyan GRANT, 24.Cam DEVLIN, 25.Joel KING.
**two to be omitted**
Ins: 11.Daniel DE SILVA (return from hamstring injury), 25.Joel KING (promoted)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 3.Ben WARLAND (foot – 8 weeks), 12.Trent BUHAGIAR (ACL – indefinite), 19.Chris ZUVELA (knee – indefinite)
Western Sydney Wanderers FC Squad: 1.Danijel NIZIC (Gk), 4.Josh RISDON, 5.Brendan HAMILL (C), 7.Nick FITZGERALD, 8.Jordan O’DOHERTY, 9.Oriol RIERA, 10.Alexander BAUMJOHANN, 11.Bruce KAMAU, 12.Ruon TONGYIK, 16.Jaushua SOTIRIO, 17.Keanu BACCUS, 20.Vedran JANJETOVIC (Gk), 21.Tarek ELRICH, 22.Rashid MAHAZI, 24.Raul LLORENTE, 28.Roly BONEVACIA, 34.Patrick ZIEGLER, 49. Abraham MAJOK
**two to be omitted**
Ins: 34.Patrick ZIEGLER (returns from injury), 49.Abraham MAJOK (promoted)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 6.Kosta GROZOS (international duty), 13.Tass MOURDOUKOUTAS (international duty), 18.Marc TOKICH (international duty), 19.Mark BRIDGE (injury – five weeks), 32.John ROBERTS (international duty), 33.Tate RUSSELL (international duty)
FORM
Sydney FC: D
Western Sydney Wanderers: D
HOW TO WATCH
Tune in to FOX SPORTS 505 or watch LIVE and FREE on ONE to catch the first Sydney Derby of the season, with kick off at 7.50pm (AEDT), or stream the match live on the MyFootball Live App.
TICKETS
You can secure your tickets to the opening match of Round 2 here.