Roar Guru
Perth Glory host Brisbane Roar in the second of a Friday night A-League double header. Join us for live scores and commemntary from NIB Stadium from 9.45pm AEDT.
This Friday night clash is between two teams who have some history between each other. Many Glory fans still think about the dubious 93rd minute penalty in the A-League grand final two years ago.
This clash invariably produces a match of the highest quality.
Perth
The Glory has had a rough season off the field, which has distracted from their solid start to the season.
After coach Alistair Edwards was sacked the Glory have been putting up respectable performances under new coach Kenny Lowe.
The Glory has won their last two matches and is perfectly poised for a late charge towards a top-four spot.
Perth have lost their last two encounters with the Roar 1-0. the last of which was in Round 8 where a second-half strike from the Albanian goal machine Besart Berisha sealed victory for the Roar.
The Glory defenders will have to stop Berisha’s impact if they are to get a result for this fixture.
Brisbane
The Roar is sitting pretty at the top of the table, leading by four points with the chance to extended that lead farther.
They lost to Adelaide at home last weekend, but that is surely a minor hiccup in Mike Mulvey’s master plan.
The last four results between these teams have resulted in only one goal being scored between both sides.
This indicates that the first goal will be very important and with Brisbane’s firepower up front you would suspect that they would be able to take the lead early.
X-factor
The X-factor for this match will be Shane Smeltz. Smeltz came off the bench last week and scored twice to secure a victory against the Heart.
If Smeltz can find the back of the net for the Glory it will go a long way to securing a upset.
Prediction
I can’t see Perth overcoming the mountain that is Brisbane Roar.
Perth Glory 0-1 Brisbane Roar