Friday night football throws up a clash between one side looking to build momentum ahead of the Finals Series, the other desperately trying to avoid the wooden spoon.
CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW THE LIVE MATCH CENTRE
MATCH DETAILS
Friday, 24 April 2015
Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Kick-Off: 7.40pm (Local) 7.40pm AEDT)
SQUADS
Brisbane Roar: 1.Michael THEO (gk), 2.Jerome POLENZ, 4.Adam SAROTA, 6.George LAMBADARIDIS, 8.Steven LUSTICA, 12.Jean Carlos SOLORZANO, 14.Daniel BOWLES, 20.Kofi DANNING, 21.Jamie YOUNG (gk), 23.Dimitri PETRATOS, 26.Lachlan JACKSON, 27.Benjamin LITFIN, 29.Patrick THEODORE, 31.Matthew SCHMIDT, 34.Shannon BRADY, 36.Fraser CHALMERS (gk), 37.Abrahim YANGO, 41.Luke PAVLOU
***two to be omitted***
Ins 1.Michael THEO (gk) (return from injury), 27.Benjamin LITFIN (promoted), 31.Matthew SCHMIDT (promoted)
Outs 13.Jade NORTH (omitted)
Unavailable 3.Shane STEFANUTTO (calf – 4 weeks), 10.HENRIQUE (knee – indefinite), 33.Luke DeVERE (quad – 4 weeks)
Newcastle Jets: 3. Taylor RGEAN, 7. Enver ALIVODIC, 10. Travis COOPER, 11. Andrew HOOLE, 12. Sam GALLAGHER, 13. Edson MONTAÑO, 16. Jacob PEPPER, 18. Allan WELSH, 19. Mitch COOPER, 20. Ben KENNEDY (Gk), 21. Daniel MULLEN, 22. LEE Ki-je, 26. Nicholas COWBURN, 29. Michael KANTAROVSKI, 30. John SOLARI (Gk), 31. Max BURGESS
Ins Nil
Outs Nil
Unavailable 1. Jess VANSTRATTAN (Gk) (knee – indefinite), 2. Scott NEVILLE (going – 1 week), 5. Ben KANTAROVSKI (knee – 1 week), 15. Joshua BARRESSI (knee – season), 17. James VIRGILI (ankle – 1 week)
Hashtag: #BRIvNEW
TV broadcast – Live coverage on FOX SPORTS 505 from 7.00pm (AEST), SBS HD & SBS One from 7.30pm (AEST) and Sky Sport 3 (New Zealand)
Radio broadcast – Online/ABC Radio Mobile phone app.
Referee Steve Lucas
Assistant Referee 1 Ashley Beecham
Assistant Referee 2 Anton Shchetinin
Fourth Official Alex King
BLUFFER’S GUIDE
It’s been an interesting last couple of weeks for Roar. After two big wins in the league, they’ve lost two on the bounce to Victory but had a sensational triumph in the ACL in China on Tuesday night.
It’s all a bit too inconsistent heading into the Finals Series though.
If winning sudden-death matches is all about momentum then Brisbane will need to build on their ACL win and produce another big performance here.
Perhaps the Jets are the ideal opponent for that to happen. Phil Stubbins’ side has lost both games against Roar this season, is currently last and has scored the fewest number of goals for the season.
After the long trip to China midweek, Roar boss Frans Thijssen has left veteran defender Jade North out but goalkeeper Michael Theo is back.
Youngsters Benjamin Litfin and Matthew Schmidt have been included and could get rare starts.
The Jets are unchanged from last week’s 4-3 loss to Sydney FC.
OPTA DATA STATS
-Brisbane has won both of their meetings with Newcastle Jets this Hyundai A-League season, though both games were away from home. The Jets have won both of their last two visits to Brisbane, keeping a clean sheet both times.
-In 13 previous visits to Brisbane, the Jets have never won when they’ve conceded (D2 L2), keeping a clean sheet in each of their nine victories there.
-After a run of 13 games without a win on the road, Newcastle have won their last two away games. They’ve never won three in a row in the Hyundai A-League before.
-Edson Montano has scored two and assisted one more in his last two Hyundai A-League games for Newcastle Jets.
ROUTE TO GOAL
After smashing in nine goals in two matches, Roar has managed just one in their last 180 minutes in the league.
While it will be of some concern to coach Frans Thijssen, he does at least have all his attacking talent available with the exception of Henrique.
Whether it’s the class of Broich, the speed of Borrello or the finishing of Kaluderovic, the home side will hope to get that scoring feeling back ahead of the finals.
The Jets have struggled for goals all season. Even with the three they got against Sydney FC last weekend, they have just 22 from their 26 games.
Edson Montano is their leading scorer with five. Encouragingly for Newcastle though they are starting to create much more through the likes of Mitch Cooper, Hoole and Alivodic.
WHO’S BEEN IN THE SPOTLIGHT THIS WEEK?
Andrija Kaluderovic. After taking a little while to settle, the striker is finding form at the right time for Roar and scoring regularly. Could he turn out to be their new “Berisha”?
