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Wanderers by name, Wanderers by nature. Tony Popovic’s side arrive back in Sydney Friday morning with a morale boosting win under their belts to face a Sydney FC side eager to extend their unbeaten streak to seven games. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 7.30pm (AEDT) to find out who will take bragging rights in the ninth Sydney Derby.
Rooted to the bottom of the A League table, the Wanderers squad arrive back in Sydney with fresh confidence after recording a 3-1 win against Kashima Antlers. Matthew Spiranovic believes the morale boosting win could help spark a late revival of their A-League season.
However if the Wanderers are to upset Sydney FC in Parramatta tonight, they’ll have to do it without Socceroo Spiranovic, suspended after being sent-off in last week’s injury time loss to Adelaide. Also missing from Tony Popovic’s squad is midfield enforcer, Mateo Poljak and injured Brendon Santalab – who may have played his last game this season after injuring his shoulder against the Reds.
The travel-weary Wanderers will be bolstered by the inclusion of Ante Covic, Iacopo La Rocca, Brendan Hamill, Romeo Castelen and Nikita Rukavytsya – all of whom were rested from the Asian Champions League game in Japan.
While Popovic may have come in for criticism for resting the five senior players from the Asian Champions League his gamble will pay off if his side can upset their local rivals.
Sydney FC arrive at Wanderland undefeated in six weeks and with the in-form strikeforce of the competition having bagged 15 goals since the mid-season Asian Cup break and Graeme Arnold says teams should be fearing Sydney’s attack.
The attack led by Bernie Ibini, Alex Brosque and Marc Janko, is so deadly they have been able to keep Shane Smeltz on the bench.
Smeltz, one of the A League’s most prolific scorers has come off the bench to score in his last two games and is banging on the door for selection in the starting eleven. Graeme Arnold could do much worse than starting the veteran striker tonight.
Following flashpoints in the last two derbies, Arnold has warned his side to put emotions aside and remain focused on winning the game where it counts – the scoreboard. “We’ve got to do what we can control, and that’s our own team. If we do that, I have the utmost confidence in the quality that we’ve got, that we can win the game,” Arnold told reporters during the week.
Popovic wouldn’t have missed how easy it was for the Mariners to get in behind the Sydney FC defence last week, so expect plenty of angled balls trying to beat the defensive pairing of Nikola Petkovic and Jacques Faty.
After eight Sydney Derby’s, honours are shared with three wins each and two draws. Both sides have different motivations to win this one; Western Sydney need three points to keep their season alive, Sydney must win to stay in touch with the top. And of course it’s a derby so neither side will want to lose.
Join The Roar from 7.30pm (AEDT) for live score updates and debate in our live blog to find out if Sydney is Red and Black or Sky Blue.
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