Match preview: Western Sydney Wanderers vs Sydney FC

Last week when I wrote the Sydney FC vs Wellington Pheonix preview I was talking about how Sydney FC was looking to show and prove that they were still the brutally consistent team that they have been for the past two years.

I couldn’t have imagined how much has changed in a week. After their truly dismal performance against Wellington, I forced myself to write the article What has happened to Sydney FC,.

It made me realise that one game hasn’t changed everything, but they have really gone down in a lot of people’s rankings, so Sydney will really be wanting this win.

So will the Wanderers.

They haven’t exactly had the start to the season they wanted, and in my opinion all the games they’ve either done really well or done terribly. One example of that was their biggest win: Wellington Phoenix 3-0 and their biggest loss: Melbourne Victory 4-0 Wanderers, which really shows that this season they haven’t managed to find any kind of consistency.

Sydney FC fans at The Hyundai A-League Round 1 soccer match between Sydney FC and Western Sydney Wanderers FC on October 27, 2018, at the Sydney Cricket Ground in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Speed Media/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Predicted Western Sydney Wanderers starting eleven
To be honest, I can’t really see the Wanderers changing their starting eleven, as they performed very well against Central Coast, and their team have seemed to find a bit of consistency.

The only person that could be out is Patrick Ziegler, as he is in doubt for the derby after sustaining an injury.

Jaushua Sotirio had a really good game, and after a great performance against Central Coast he will most likely be yet again promoted from the bench to the starting eleven, but Roly Bonevacia has returned, but I doubt he will be rushed straight into the starting eleven.

Predicted Sydney FC starting eleven
Even with Sydney’s dismal performance against Wellington Phoenix, I can’t really see any changes in the line-up, excluding Siem De Jong.

He is a marquee player, and even though he has been injured for almost six weeks and only got one half last week, he is a very important player, and there Sydney needs him now more than ever.

Pretty much every game in the A-League past Melbourne City, the teams have found out how to press Sydney. It’s been a really aggressive press to force them to make a long ball and press Ninkovic by surrounding him with two or three players to force him back and stop him from making through balls or running the ball up and taking a shot or making a key pass.

When Sydney have Siem De Jong, he and Ninkovic will be able to share the playmaking responsibilities and Sydney will be a much more dangerous team. In my opinion, Siem De Jong will be played instead of Paulo Retre, but he is less familiar out wide and could be played as a deep striker instead of Brosque.

However I doubt that because of Sydney’s lack of pace up front. Brosque is a more important member of the team, as he is the captain and the main motivator. Also, even though Jop Van Der Linden had a terrible performance against Wellington, he is a valuable player for Sydney FC, as he can mark Oriel Riera and is tall, and also has a really good passing ability, and also there really isn’t a centre-back who can replace him.

Predicted match result
I think that it will be a very even game, with the Wanderers needing a derby win to show that there is more than one competitive team in Sydney, and Sydney needing just a win to show that they are still the team they have been for the past two years.

I think it will be a 1-1 draw, but either team could claim it. I think there will most likely be a goal late in the game, as substitutes will have a big impact, and in a derby, there seems to always be a goal late in the game, and it’s usually a winning one, so let’s hope that it will be an exciting derby!