Match preview: Western Sydney Wanderers vs Melbourne City

Melbourne City face Western Sydney Wanderers at ANZ Stadium on New Year’s Day, looking to build on their great escape from Round 9.

Warren Joyce’s men were staring down the barrel of their fourth loss of the season before Dario Vidosic rose highest to head home Scott Jamieson’s delightful dink.

A win for City would make them unbeaten in three, following their 1-1 draw with Melbourne Victory and a 2-0 win over Adelaide United the week before — impressive form considering the noise around Bundoora over the past few weeks.

WATCH: Goal of the Round: David Williams – Wellington Phoenix
WATCH: Full Press Conference: Markus Babbel

https://players.brightcove.net/5519514571001/default_default/index.html?videoId=5982795072001

Standing in their way are the hosts Western Sydney Wanderers, who mustered a 2-2 draw against Adelaide United at a scorching Coopers Stadium in Round 9.

After finding the net against Sydney FC and Adelaide United, Oriol Riera now has two goals in as many games, while Bruce Kamau is maturing into a reliable and lethal forward with one goal and two assists.

Despite this, a loss against Melbourne City would make Markus Babbel’s men winless in three — form they would not want to carry into Summer Football.

https://players.brightcove.net/5519514571001/default_default/index.html?videoId=5983551275001

Key Opta stats

Melbourne City have won only three of their last 11 meetings against Western Sydney Wanderers, but will be looking to go back-to-back following their 3-0 win in March.
Melbourne City lead the Hyundai A-League in pass accuracy with 82%, while the Wanderers have completed 76% of their passes.
Western Sydney’s Keanu Baccus has 26 tackles and 33 interceptions this season, or 59 interventions in total — at least nine more than any other player in the Hyundai A-League.

Ins and outs

Western Sydney Wanderers FC squad: 5.Brendan HAMILL, 7.Nick FITZGERALD, 8.Jordan O’DOHERTY, 9.Oriol RIERA, 10.Alex BAUMJOHANN, 11.Bruce KAMAU, 13.Tass MOURDOUKOUTAS, 14.Mathieu CORDIER, 17.Keanu BACCUS, 20.Vedran JANJETOVIC (gk), 21.Tarek ELRICH, 22.Rashid MAHAZI, 24.Raul LLORENTE, 28.Roly BONEVACIA, 33.Tate RUSSELL, 34.Patrick ZIEGLER, 40.Nicholas SUMAN (gk), 49.Abraham MAJOK,

**two to be omitted**

Ins: 14.Mathieu CORDIER (promoted), 20.Vedran JANJETOVIC (gk) (return from suspension), 33.Tate RUSSELL (promoted), 49.Abraham MAJOK (promoted)

Outs: 4.Josh RISDON (international duty), 50.Jack GREENWOOD (gk) (not selected)

Unavailable: 16.Jaushua SOTIRIO (injury – two weeks), 19.Mark BRIDGE (injury – five weeks)

Melbourne City FC squad: 1.Mark BIRIGHITTI (gk), 2.Ritchie De LAET, 3.Scott JAMIESON (c) , 4.Harrison DELBRIDGE, 5.Bart SCHENKEVELD, 6.Osama MALIK, 7.Rostyn GRIFFITHS, 8.Riley MCGREE, 10.Dario VIDOSIC, 11.Michael O’HALLORAN, 13.Nathaniel ATKINSON, 15.Kearyn BACCUS, 18.Eugene GALEKOVIC (gk), 19.Lachlan WALES, 21.Ramy NAJJARINE, 25.Iacopo LA ROCCA, 26.Luke BRATTAN, 34.Connor METCALFE

**two to be omitted**

Ins: 22.Curtis GOOD (promoted), 34.Connor METCALFE (promoted)

Outs: nil

Unavailable: 27.Florin BERENGUER-BOHRER (calf)