The Roar's A-League Men tips and predictions: Round 26 - the jostle for finals positions is on in earnest
Here is the way the Roar expert panel sees all the action unfolding across the final weekend of play prior to the semi-finals.
Sydney FC deserve to be top of the A-League but owe a lot of their success this season to sheer luck, according to Brisbane Roar defender Jade North.
Riding high on the back of a six-game winning streak, the Sky Blues take on the Roar – who are unbeaten in their last four games – at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night.
A win for the visitors will equal the best-ever start to an A-League season by any team, while third-placed Brisbane can reduce the margin between the sides to five points if they can produce an upset.
However, as impressive as they’ve been, North believes Sydney have been quite fortunate not to have let in more goals.
“Obviously Sydney are flying at the moment but having said that, they’ve been quite lucky as well, not conceding as many as I thought they maybe should have,” North told reporters on Tuesday.
“They deserve to be where they are but Perth were a little bit unlucky on the weekend with a couple of chances.
“But you’ve got to ride your luck sometimes. They’ve been quite dominant in the front third.”
Both sides should be at full strength, with Brisbane to regain striker Jamie Maclaren, who made his competitive debut for the Socceroos in Tuesday night’s 2-2 draw with Thailand.
Sydney has won just three times in 17 attempts at Suncorp Stadium but won’t be taking any notice of history after setting two new records – the longest winning sequence in club history, and the most goals (17) scored by any team in the first six rounds of a season.
Asked if the Sky Blues would be Brisbane’s biggest test this season, North said: “To this point in time, it will be.”
“We’ve got some great players all over the park and I feel we can really hurt them as well.
“Defensively we’ve been quite solid over the last month and when we start hitting teams and getting some confidence and getting goals, we’re not too far away from giving a team a good hiding.”
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Here is the way the Roar expert panel sees all the action unfolding across the final weekend of play prior to the semi-finals.
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