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A ten year old rivalry continues tonight as two high flying, but stalling sides face off, with Sydney FC hosting Adelaide United. Join The Roar from 7.40pm AEDT to follow all of the action and live scores as it happens under the Sky Blue of Allianz Stadium.
Sydney FC are winless from their past four matches after drawing with cross-town rivals Western Sydney Wanderers and long time enemy Melbourne Victory, while also succumbing to defeats against table leaders Perth Glory and this seasons surprise packets Wellington Phoenix.
Losing 2-0 last week at home against a Nathan Burns inspired Phoenix side, compounded a horror month for the Sky Blues with injury and poor form recurring issues. Four of FC’s regular first team starters Ognenovski, Gameiro, Abbas and Carle are all facing the rest of the season on the sidelines after picking up serious injuries over the past month.
One bright spot for Sydney is that their strikers are firing with Janko, Smeltz and Ibini all showing glimpses of their best in recent weeks. But a shaky defence can undo all the good work upfront, something FC will need to rectify against an Adelaide side who boast the most shots and shots on target this season in the A-league.
United are however themselves experiencing a tough run of form. Although being crowned the inaugural FFA Cup winners, Adelaide have abandoned early season consistency, having now lost two A-league games in a row. Last week’s performance against Newcastle was a perfect reflection of the form Adelaide now find themselves in.
Dominating the match in terms of possession, they were clueless with the ball favouring long balls over the incisive passing they are renowned for. Lucky to have scored a goal, United then fell victim to their own inability to finish, allowing the Jets to score on the counter and claim all three points.
Adelaide were of course playing their third game in a week and showing how vulnerable the absence of centre back Osama Malik leaves them at the back.
Excuses seem to be two things both Sydney and Adelaide have in common, but that all must change tonight if either hope to push forward with their season.
Although FC are undeniably depleted thanks to a string of season ending injuries, they are boosted by the return of captain Alex Brosque. Something Adelaide are not, with United instead losing midfielder Fabio Ferriera to a hamstring injury during the week. Regardless, success tonight will be crucial and excuses will do nothing to fill the gap a loss will cause in both team’s pursuit of a top three finish.
Sydney FC host Adelaide United in this Friday night, Boxing Day fixture with both teams in rough patches of form but both eager and capable of a top of the table finish. Join us from 7.40pm AEDT and add your voice to the crowd as the Sky Blues face off against the Red heat of Adelaide.
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