- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
With the end of the season on the horizon, all teams will try to pick up as many points as they possibly can and finish in the highest position possible.
All teams have everything to play for, be it securing a finals position or avoiding the wooden spoon. This round will be crucial, as it may be the decider whether the clubs’ ambitions are fulfilled.
Both teams have everything to play for, Perth are unbeaten in their past four matches and pulled off an upset against Melbourne Victory last round. Against a Sydney side which has failed to meet their usual quality in their past few fixtures, Perth – unbeaten in four rounds – should feel pretty confident of getting a result.
Sydney have bounced back from their home loss against Brisbane Roar, and impressively it was against the Central Coast Mariners who they lost and drew to before the win.
Fortunately for Sydney, their contenders for the Premiers Plate, Newcastle, lost convincingly against Adelaide. Although the display was pretty satisfactory, and they stole the three points after a late goal from Matt Simon, Sydney FC could go back to their usual form which would put Perth’s unbeaten run under a real threat.
Prediction: 1-1. But this game could go either way. Depends on Sydney, really.
The bottom team, Wellington, ended their losing streak by drawing against Brisbane. Andrija Kaludjerovic finally broke his goal-scoring drought which lasted over 11 rounds, but Nathan Burns is still waiting for his first A-League goal since playing for Wellington player this season. He ought to show he’s a Johnny Warren Medalist and bury some chances and tee up some teammates.
Roy Krishna and Burns could potentially cause problems for the fullbacks, so Ben Garuccio and Michael Marrone should be alert. The Sky Blues did them a favour last week by stealing the three points again Central Coast, so a win against Adelaide could be the difference between avoiding the wooden spoon.
Adelaide United pulled off a huge upset against Newcastle and should look to build on their good performance last week. Johan Absalonsen, Dzengis Cavusevic, Ryan Kitto and Daniel Adlung have shown they are attacking weapons and could cause problems for the Wellington defence which has conceded an average of two goals per game.
Despite scoring five last round, findiong the back of the net has been a problem for the Reds, but the return of Absalonsen and new signing Cavusevic could provide an attacking spark. They’ll want to win this, as they have two difficult away clashes against the Wanderers and Sydney FC coming up.
Prediction: A one or two-goal win for Adelaide. Wellington would most likely concede two, as that is the average they concede each game.
As Brisbane drew the other week against Wellington, it’s vital they go back to winning ways in this home clash against a second from bottom Central Coast, especially if they want to make the finals. The Wanderers are only one point ahead of them, and Western Sydney have a lower goal difference than Brisbane.
Central Coast have everything to play for as well, as they look to end their three-game losing streak and avoid the wooden spoon.
The Mariners changed formation from a 4-2-3-1 into a 3-5-2 formation against Sydney FC. Brisbane Roar usually put the same line-up, Jamie Young in goal, Jack Hingert, Avraam Papadopoulos, Jade North and Ivan Franjic in the defence. Matt McKay and Thomas Kristensen in central midfield. Eric Bautheac, Brett Holman and Fahid Ben Khalfallah in the attacking midfield and Massimo Maccarone, who hasn’t scored in his past four games, up front.
Prediction: 2-0 Brisbane. Maccarone will score, and the second will come from either Bautheac or Holman.
(Photo by Tony Feder/Getty Images)
The Wanderers lost 3-0 against Melbourne City the other week, and Melbourne Victory have come back to earth after losing 1-0 against Perth Glory. Both will want to go back to winning ways before the finals start and perhaps even secure a top-four spot.
The Victory have been up and down this season and they managed to net five past Central Coast a week before losing 1-0 against Perth. How Leroy George and Besart Berisha work together will be vital, as well as how well Keanu Baccus, Michael Thwaite and Brendan Hamill keep them ineffective.
On the other hand, Josep Gombau has a range of attackers he could use; Oriol Riera, Christopher Ikonomidis, Mark Bridge, Steve Lustica, Marcelo Carrusca, Alvaro Cejudo, Brendon Santalab or even Roly Bonevacia could switch to a more attacking position.
Whoever’s chosen, it’s certain that Thomas Deng, Rhys Williams, James Donachie and Leigh Broxham won’t have their life made easy for them.
Prediction: One team will defeat the other by at least two goals, and I would put my money in favour of Melbourne Victory, especially after their 3-0 away triumph the last time these two teams met.
Newcastle showed little promise in both attack and defence and perhaps the two goals they scored against Adelaide was due to lapses of defensive concentration and laziness from the defence.
City’s attack was much better and they won emphatically against the Wanderers. Their attack, with Daniel Arzani, Bruno Fornaroli, Stefan Mauk and Dario Vidosic, worked very well. Some
of Newcastle’s key players may return (Nigel Boogaard, Dimitri Petratos, Roy O’Donovan) which will increase the quality of their attack and defence. A large question is how will the Jets’ attack function against an experienced City defence? Patito Rodriguez, Joseph Champness and Riley McGree all played very poor games and they didn’t work well together.
But O’Donovan (the replacement for Champness) hasn’t scored since Round 5 and his hat-trick in the F3 Derby in Round 1 seems an awful long time ago now.
Prediction: City will be too good for the Jets, even away from home.
(Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
Table prediction after Round 25
1st) Sydney FC: 56 points 2nd) Newcastle Jets: 47 points 3rd) Melbourne City: 40 points 4th) Melbourne Victory: 38 points 5th) Adelaide United: 36 points (AAP Image/James Elsby) 6th) Brisbane Roar: 32 points 7th) Western Sydney Wanderers: 30 points 8th) Perth Glory: 30 points 9th) Central Coast: 20 points 10th) Wellington Phoenix: 18 points So Roarers, what would you predict for the blockbuster round?
If Sydney get a point, they secure the premiers plate.
If my prediction of a Newcastle loss is correct, the Jets won’t be able to win the Premiers Plate. They’ve secured second position already.
They will remain third if they beat Newcastle, but if they lose or draw, the Victory will leapfrog them if they defeat the Wanderers.
If they lose, Adelaide will most likely leapfrog them, as the Reds play Wellington at home. If they win and City lose, they will take third spot. If they draw, then to leapfrog them Adelaide will have to defeat Wellington by seven goals.
Adelaide will remain fifth after this round even if they lose or draw to Wellington. They could go up to fourth if Victory lose against the Wanderers. However, their last two games against the Sydney clubs are not guaranteed wins, so defeating Wellington will give them breathing space. 
Brisbane will most likely defeat the Mariners. If they lose, they stay seventh or if Perth wins, they drop to eighth. If they draw, they’ll make the top six unless the Glory beat the Sky Blues or if the Wanderers earn a point against Melbourne Victory.
If they lose against Victory, they’ll most likely drop seventh or eighth. If Brisbane loses, they will remain sixth.
If they win against Sydney and both Brisbane and the Wanderers lose or draw, then they will clinch the sixth position at the end of this round.
If Central Coast win this match, they will be five points clear from the bottom.
If they pull off an upset away from home against Adelaide, and Central Coast lose against Brisbane, the Phoenix will be second from bottom, instead of dead last at the end of this round.
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.