Sydney FC require just three more wins to get their hands on the Premiership and they would love nothing more than to put the first of those away against bitter rivals Western Sydney Wanderers.
The Sky Blues may be sitting pretty at the top of the Hyundai A-League ladder – 10 points clear of second-place Melbourne City – but there’s a glaring hole in their 2019/20 campaign so far.
And it involves the other half of the Harbour City. Steve Corica’s troops have lost just two of their 19 games so far this season, with both of those coming against the Wanderers.
The most recent of those came just last month with Mitch Duke’s towering header giving the Red and Black a memorable 1-0 win on Sydney FC’s own turf.
That was a combustible contest which saw the Wanderers’ Daniel Georgievski sent off, with the defender’s return from suspension adding even more spice to this clash.
In terms of the ladder, Saturday night’s battle at Bankwest Stadium is more important to the hosts, who are currently in eighth spot and two points outside the finals places.
While the stands may be empty, the action on the pitch will still be white-hot ensuring a content not to be missed.
ROUND 23: Who made the Hyundai A-League Team of the Week?
MINI MATCHES: Catch up on all the Round 23 action
Saturday, 21 March 2020
Kick off: 7:30pm AEDT
Venue: Bankwest Stadium
Broadcast: FOX Sports 505
Stream: MyFootball Live App, Kayo Sports
Ways to watch
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Team news
Western Sydney Wanderers FC squad: 1.Daniel LOPAR (GK), 4.Dylan McGOWAN, 5.Daniel GEORGIEVSKI, 6.Matthew JURMAN, 7.Mitchell DUKE (c), 8.Jordan O’DOHERTY, 9.Nicolai MULLER, 10.Simon COX, 11.Bruce KAMAU, 13.Tass MOURDOUKOUTAS, 17.Keanu BACCUS, 22.Nicholas SULLIVAN, 23.Kosta GROZOS, 27.Kwame YEBOAH, 31.Noah PAGDEN, 33.Tate RUSSELL, 34.Patrick ZIEGLER, 35.Mohamed ADAM, 36.Jarrod CARLUCCIO, 50.Tristan PRENDERGAST (GK)
**2-4 to be omitted**
Ins: 5.Daniel GEORGIEVSKI (returns from suspension), 11.Bruce KAMAU (promoted), 17.Keanu BACCUS (promoted), 27.Kwame YEBOAH (promoted), 34.Patrick ZIEGLER (returns from suspension), 50.Tristan PRENDERGAST (promoted)
Outs: 19.Pirmin SCHWEGLER (suspended – one week), 60.Oliver KALAC (not selected)
Unavailable: 20.Vedran JANJETOVIC (knee), 29.Daniel WILMERING (knee), Radoslaw MAJEWSKI (knee)
Sydney FC squad: 1.Andrew REDMAYNE (gk), 2.Patrick FLOTTMANN, 3.Ben WARLAND, 4.Alex WILKINSON (c), 5.Alex BAUMJOHANN, 6.Ryan McGOWAN, 7.Michael ZULLO, 8.Paulo RETRE, 9.Adam LE FONDRE, 10.Milos NINKOVIC, 11.Kosta BARBAROUSES, 12.Trent BUHAGIAR, 16.Joel KING, 17.Anthony CACERES, 19. Chris ZUVELA, 20.Thomas HEWARD-BELLE (gk), 21.Harry VAN DER SAAG, 23.Rhyan GRANT, 24.Marco TILIO, 26.Luke BRATTAN
**2-4 to be omitted**
Ins: 7.Michael ZULLO (promoted), 19. Chris ZUVELA (return from injury)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: Nil
Did you know?
- With this being the final Sydney Derby of the Hyundai A-League 2019/20 regular season, Western Sydney Wanderers have won each of the first two meetings and neither side has ever won all three regular season fixtures in a single edition.
- Western Sydney Wanderers have never claimed back-to-back wins and consecutive clean sheets on home turf against the Sky Blues.
- Sydney FC are undefeated in their last seven Hyundai A-League away games (six wins, one draw) – including wins in their last four away games on the bounce.
- No team has scored more (seven) or conceded fewer (two) goals in the opening 15 minutes of games this A-League season than Sydney FC.
- Western Sydney Wanderers FC duo Pirmin Schwegler and Matthew Jurman have each made 45 interceptions this A-League season, more than any other players in the competition.
Tipping
