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Sydney FC’s premiership chances took a hit last week thanks to an Awer Mabil thunderbolt, but they have fond memories after their last visit to nib Stadium and will be looking for similar result when they take on Perth Glory in round 25 of the A-League.
Join The Roar from 9.45pm (AEST) for live score updates and debate in our live blog.
Perth’s season appeared to be back on track with two wins in two weeks, placing them back at equal top of the competition.
However, that all came undone during the week starting with the news that creative midfielder, Mitch Nichols, has had his loan contract terminated, and followed by the news on Friday afternoon that Perth would be barred from playing in the 2015 A-League finals.
Glory are now set to finish the season in seventh, meaning the points only matter for Sydney FC tonight, whose prospects of a top two finish have dramatically increased following the news.
Lowe maintained throughout the week that his side was focused on doing the job on the pitch, and Glory defender, Dino Djulbic echoed Lowe’s sentiment, telling reporters, “We get paid to play football, so we just do that. For us, there’s no distraction at all.”
Djulbic, who was sent off the last time these two sides met, went on to say that the squad is flying high and full of confidence following the two wins in two weeks.
With finals now off the table, it will be interesting to see how the players, coach and fans react to tonight’s game.
Despite the results against the Wanderers and Newcastle, the Glory’s form hasn’t been convincing and will need vast improvements if they are to take three points from the visiting Sky Blues who peppered Eugene Galekovic’s goal for 90 minutes in Sydney last week.
Sydney arrive in Perth, undefeated away from home this season but with a weakened squad due to injuries to key midfielders Terry Antonis and Mickael Tavares while injury concerns continue to cloud Austrian striker Marc Janko.
Given the lack of attacking cover, Janko is expected to start, while Rhyan Grant is in line to replace the injured Tavares.
Perth, who have reverted back to a 4-4-2 formation that served them so well at the beginning of the season, certainly have the firepower to trouble Sydney’s back four but following Nikola Petkovic’s shift to left back, Arnold seems to have resolved the issues that have troubled his defence this season.
The Glory are playing for nought this season, but we can only hope they’ll be determined to turn around the last start loss against Graham Arnold’s Sky Blues who know a loss against the Glory will further dent their own title ambitions. Join The Roar from 9.45pm (AEST) for live score updates and debate in our live blog.
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