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Sydney FC will hoping to end Brisbane Roar’s record unbeaten streak of 29 matches when the two teams clash tonight at the Sydney Football Stadium. Join us from 7:30pm AEDT for live scores and an interactive blog.
The Sky Blues were thrown into the lion’s den last week – travelling to Etihad Stadium to play a Melbourne team led by Harry Kewell and spurred on by over 40,000 fans – and they were able to sneak a draw despite finishing the match with ten men.
For Brisbane Roar, it was business as usual. A grand-final rematch against the Central Coast Mariners went to plan, after Mitch Nicholls scored the only goal for the defending premiers who seemed to take off from where they left off last season.
The Roar are a testament to the improving A-League competition; their brand of football amongst the prettiest played in all of the Asian confederation.
Despite suffering some key personnel changes before the start of the season, Ange Postecoglou is proving that a good football system can win out over a playing roster.
But that is to take nothing away from Brisbane Roar’s on field quality. Even without Matt McKay, Jean Carlos Solarzano and company the Roar boast one of the most impressive squads in the league.
In Canadian Issey Nakajima-Farran, Brisbane has got themselves a quality winger with the class to rip the competition to shreds.
The arrival of Nakajima-Farran has allowed Thomas Broich, who is arguably the competition’s premier player, the freedom to move into the heart of midfield, where his wide range of passing can do the most damage.
If Sydney FC is to win tonight, both Broich and Nakajima-Farran are going to need to be contained.
And the Sky Blues have plenty of problems of their own. Mark Bridge misses two weeks because of suspension and that means that Sydney will probably bring Bruno Cazarine into the starting line-up.
Home-town favourite Brett Emerton makes his SFS debut tonight but he will need to put in a better performance that what he threw up last week.
There is a lot of pressure on the former captain of the Socceroos and if he doesn’t begin to deliver that will only intensify – something that Harry Kewell is probably learning about right now.
Under coach Viteslav Lavicka, Sydney aren’t known for their scoring prowess so again they will rely on a quality defensive effort to get the job done.
Liam Reddy had a blinder in goal last week and he, just like Matt Ryan did for the Mariners against Brisbane, will need to be at his best if the Sky Blues are any chance tonight.
It is impossible to contemplate the Roar getting beat these days. It is almost a whole season since it happened in the A-League and I don’t think tonight is going to be the night for it either.
Brisbane tends to do well against Sydney and they come into the match in good nick. I’m going to tip a 2-1 win for Brisbane, and Nakajima-Farran to have a big game!
Can Sydney notch up a win first-up at home against the odds or will Brisbane make it 30 on the bounce? Join us form 7.30pm AEDT for live scores and a blog, and post your comments on the action below.
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