Brisbane have had a great record over every club in the last couple of seasons but enjoy playing Sydney more than most others.
Date: Sunday, December 4
Kick-off: 5pm AEDT, 5pm Local
Venue: WIN Jubilee Oval
Head-to-head
Played 20: Wins: Sydney FC 5, Brisbane 8, Draws: 8
Previous encounter
Sydney FC 0, Brisbane Roar 2, October 15, 2011
History:
Brisbane have had a great record over every club in the last couple of seasons but enjoy playing Sydney more than most others. The Roar have lost just one of their last 14 games against the Sky Blues, including a comfortable 2-0 victory at the SFS in round two of this campaign. A goal in each half to Besart Berisha and Thomas Broich was the difference and extended the Roar’s unbeaten run to 30 matches. The run now stands at 36 and is showing no signs of slowing down.
Form:
Past five matches:
Sydney FC: DWWLL
Brisbane Roar: WDDWW
After a promising start to the season Sydney are down on form and confidence at the moment with back-to-back defeats. They were slow out of the b locks against Wellington last weekend, finding themselves down 1-0 early on and despite fighting back well in the second half were eventually beaten 2-1. The defeats have seen them drop from second to fourth on the ladder and another defeat could see Vitezslav Lavicka’s side drop out of the top six altogether.
Brisbane took their undefeated streak to an Australian professional record of 36 matches against the Perth Glory last weekend in emphatic style. A blistering first half performance saw Berisha and Issey Nakajima-Farran grab two goals apiece in a 4-0 win. After a couple of weeks of scrappy form – which included two draws a come-from-behind win – the Roar look to be back to their devastating best.
Match Committee:
The only injury worry for Sydney FC surrounds striker Mark Bridge who left the field in the second half of the loss to the Phoenix with a back injury. The former Jets front man is considered a 50-50 proposition to play. The Sky Blues are also without left-back Scott Jamieson through suspension, Shannon Cole is his likely replacement. Both sides do get back a trio of Olyroos representatives respectively. Sebastian Ryall, Rhyan Grant and Dimitri Petratos are back for Sydney while Matthew Jurman, Mitch Nicholls and Kofi Danning are available again for the Roar. After two losses Lavicka is bound to make changes with Bruno Cazarine pushing hard for a starting spot in attack, especially if Bridge is ruled unfit. Jurman and Nicholls are both likely to be brought straight back into Ange Postecoglou’s starting line-up.
Danger men:
Bruno Cazarine – He has started just two games this season but the Brazilian striker must be close to a regular berth after another impressive display off the bench against Wellington last Sunday. Cazarine found the back of the net for the second time this season and proved a handful in his 30 minutes on the pitch. He might not be as skilful or pacy as Mark Bridge but Cazarine is a proven goal-scorer which the Roar will have to keep an eye on at some stage throughout the 90 minutes.
Besert Berisha – There was a big question mark over Brisbane’s strikeforce at the start of the season when Jean Carlos Solorzano left for Melbourne Victory but Berisha has settled into his new surrounds brilliantly. The Albanian has proved not only able to fit perfectly into the Roar’s style of play but has shown he’s an expert finisher as well. Has nine goals in just eight games this season, five more than his nearest rivals.
At the end of the day…
There’s never a good time to come up against Brisbane but if there’s one team Sydney wouldn’t want to face at the moment it’s the Roar. With two straight losses they are desperate to stop the rot but how do you do that against a team that hasn’t lost in their last 36 games? Well the first step will be to not allow their opponents to get off to a quick start, which the Sky Blues have made a habit of this season. Sydney’s defence has been ragged and ill-disciplined in the last weeks and if that trait continues on Sunday they will be in for a very long afternoon.
There’s not much left to say about the Roar that hasn’t already been mentioned over the last 36 games. It will be interesting to see how they react now they have broken the record and are simply just playing for three points this weekend. The return of a couple of key players from Olyroos duty makes their side look even stronger now and it’s almost impossible to see Brisbane’s unbeaten streak being ended this week.
