Western Sydney Wanderers will be out to close the gap on sixth-placed Adelaide United when they square-off in a vital Hyundai A-League clash on Friday night.
It’s been a disastrous start to 2019 for the Wanderers, who have lost all four matches they’ve played since the calendar has turned over to the new year.
Injuries to star men Alexander Baumjohann and Oriol Riera have only added to their woes, with their hopes of mounting a finals charge starting to fade.
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Even though they were on the wrong end of a 4-3 scoreline against league-leaders Perth Glory last Sunday, there was a lot to like about their performance.
New recruit Kwame Yeboah had a hand in all three goals – scoring one – while the likes of youngsters Abraham Majok, Tass Mourdoukoutas and Keanu Baccus really stood up.
With a 10-point gap between the Wanderers and sixth-placed Reds, you get the sense this is a match Western Sydney simply must win.
It won’t be easy against an Adelaide United team that have threats all over the park.
Only a stunning Andrew Redmayne save denied them getting a draw with Sydney FC last week.
The 2-1 defeat came as Marco Kurz’s side were starting to put together a run of good form, including their recent win over Melbourne Victory.
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With Craig Goodwin, Ben Halloran and Nikola Mileusnic starting to forge a strong combination, they’ll be confident of getting amongst the goals against a Wanderers defence that has been shaky for much of the campaign.
It was a Mileusnic brace that saw the Reds secure a 2-2 draw against the Wanderers on Boxing Day, despite playing the last half an hour with just 10 men.
Interestingly, the Wanderers were undefeated against the Reds from eight Hyundai A-League games at home (W3, D5) before their last meeting in Sydney when the Reds snatched a 3-2 victory at ANZ Stadium in April last year.
Key Opta stats
- Adelaide United are undefeated in their last six Hyundai A-League game against the Western Sydney Wanderers (W2, D4). Their last defeat to the Wanderers came in October 2016.
- The Wanderers have lost their last four Hyundai A-League games. One more defeat and they will equal a club-record five-game losing stretch from May to November in 2014.
- The Reds have conceded just four first-half goals this campaign, fewer than any other team in the competition and just one-third that of what Western Sydney Wanderers have conceded (12) in that period.
Ins and outs
Western Sydney Wanderers FC squad: 5. Brendan HAMILL, 7.Nick FITZGERALD, 11.Bruce KAMAU, 13.Tass MOURDOUKOUTAS, 14.Mathieu CORDIER, 16.Jaushua SOTIRIO, 20.Vedran JANJETOVIC, 21.Tarek ELRICH, 22.Rashid MAHAZI, 24.Raul LLORENTE, 27.Kwame YEBOAH, 28.Roly BONEVACIA, 33.Tate RUSSELL, 34.Patrick ZIEGLER, 40.Nicholas SUMAN, 41.Fabian MONGE, 42.Andrea AGAMEMNONOS, 49.Abraham MAJOK **Two to be omitted
Ins: 24.Raul LLORENTE (promoted), 34.Patrick ZIEGLER (promoted), 41.Fabian MONGE (promoted), 42.Andrea AGAMEMNONOS (promoted)
Outs: 8.Jordan O’DOHERTY (injury – 1 week), 17.Keanu Baccus (suspension – 1 week)
Unavailable: 4.Josh RISDON (international duty), 9.Oriol RIERA (injury – 1 week), 10.Alex BAUMJOHANN (injury – 4 weeks), 19.Mark Bridge (injury – 2 weeks)
Adelaide United squad: 1.Daniel MARGUŠ (gk), 2.Michael MARRONE, 3.Scott GALLOWAY, 4.Ryan STRAIN, 6.Vince LIA, 7.Ryan KITTO, 8.Isaías SÁNCHEZ (c), 10.Ken ILSØ, 11.Craig GOODWIN, 14.George BLACKWOOD, 16.Nathan KONSTANDOPOULOS, 17.Nikola MILEUSNIĆ, 20.Paul IZZO (gk), 22.Michael JAKOBSEN, 23.Jordan ELSEY, 26.Ben HALLORAN, 27.Louis D’ARRIGO, 31.Mirko BOLAND **two to be omitted**
Ins: 27.Louis D’ARRIGO (promoted), 31.Mirko BOLAND (promoted)
Outs: nil
Unavailable: 9.Baba DIAWARA (knee), 18.Lachlan BROOK (knee), 33.Apostolos STAMATELOPOULOS (quad)
How to watch
Tune in to FOX SPORTS 505 to catch the Friday night fixture, which kicks off at 7:50pm (AEDT). You can also stream the match on the MyFootball Live App, which is live, fast and data-free for Telstra mobile customers.
Tickets
Secure your ticket as the Wanderers take on Adelaide United by heading here.
Tipping
