- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Adelaide United are just two points away from first place in the A-League ahead of their Friday night clash with Melbourne City, who are striving for a spot in the top six. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 7:15pm (AEDT).
FFA Cup winning coach Josep Gombau will expect nothing less than three points from his side, following their narrow 2-1 win over the Wanderers. But City are desperate to make their first season under new owners a success.
Melbourne clearly struggled after David Villa’s failed stint at the Victorian side, failing to live up to the limelight he achieved on the international stage and putting a question mark over the real value of a marquee player.
However, Melbourne City have only lost one of their last six home fixtures, and they could well have reached the top six if it weren’t for Danny Vukovic’s heroics for league leaders Perth Glory in the fixture at AAMI Park last Sunday.
Irish international Damien Duff has stolen headlines for Melbourne with his season-ending injury, while the squad regulars in Rob Wielaert, James Brown and Mate Dugandzic have suffered short-term injuries that should see them out of this clash.
Adelaide are likely to have three players sit out of the fixture at AAMI Park, Spaniard Isaias Sanchez received his fifth yellow card of the season against the Wanderers last week, while defenders Osama Malik and Nigel Boogaard have suffered short-term injuries.
Currently the forward pairing in Bruce Djite and Sergio Cirio are propelling the South Australian side forward in goals. Sharing seventh place for top goalscorer in the A-League, and on a combined twelve goals in eighteen rounds for the season, these two have grown immensely in their time at the club and don’t look to be slowing down.
Last week, Kenyan-born winger Bruce Kamau was re-promoted to the squad by Gombau. In the end he didn’t make his third appearance for Adelaide United, but there’s a chance he’ll soon become a regular in the squad with Mark Ochieng now omitted, and the youngster himself signing a one-year contract just last month.
In a game against the seventh-placed Melbourne City and with injuries to the more established members in his side, we can expect Gombau to tinker with his squad as the finals approach, similar to last week where he re-promoted Paul Izzo and Nathan Konstandopoulos to the team.
Prediction
While Melbourne City have improved their results at the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium following Villa’s failed stint, Adelaide are strong away from home. A dangerous attacking lineup along with the aspired glories of making first-place on the ladder is why Adelaide looks likely to take the three points.
Result: Adelaide 3-1
Join me on The Roar from 7.15pm AEDT for the live blog to get the latest action from the A-League.
Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.