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Adelaide United
1
93
Sydney FC
1
| 78' |  | A. L. Fondre | ||
| 60' |  | R. Grant | ||
| 52' | | J. Brillante | ||
| S. Galloway | | 48' | ||
| 42' | | M. Zullo | ||
| R. Strain | | 40' | ||
| 27' | | J. V. D. Linden |
| 7 | Shots | 7 | ||
| 3 | On Target | 3 | ||
| 16 | Fouls | 17 | ||
| 4 | Corners | 4 | ||
| 6 | Offsides | 1 | ||
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 | ||
| 1 | Yellow Cards | 4 |
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It’s a big welcome home to A-League for 2018! And in a quirk of fixturing we have a prelude to the FFA Cup final to kick us off, with Adelaide United taking on Sydney FC at Coopers Stadium in Adelaide on Friday evening from 7:50pm (AEDT). Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match.
It’s been an offseason of renewal for both clubs, with overhauls across the lines at both Adelaide and Sydney.
The appointment of Steve Corica as Sydney FC manager presents a new dawn for the club, and the Sydney hierarchy have refreshed their squad after many of 2017 vintage stars exited the club.
The sky blue exodus began with Graham Arnold’s appointment as Socceroos heir, and continued as star imports Jordy Buijs, Bobo and Johnny Warren medallist Adrian Mierzejewski exited for new opportunities.
However, many of the foundations of the Sydney’s oh-so-close Powerhouse squad remain, with Alex Wilkinson, Josh Brillante, Brandon O’Neill returning, and puppetmaster Milos Ninkovic still pulling the strings in midfield.
Sydney has recruited well, exploiting their Dutch network to bring in playmaker Siem De Jong – who won 21 caps for Ajax in the Eredivisie in the last season – and swapped out Buijs for another Dutch centreback in Jop van der Linden.
Add-in dynamic journeyman striker Adam Le Fondre (from Bolton) and the first ever inter A-League loanee, Daniel De Silva, and Corica has a dynamic and mobile front 4 to pressure the Adelaide line.
For Adelaide United it’s another season of the Marco Kurz experiment; but this year the club has added more weapons for him and midfield maestro Isaias to play with.
Adelaide has lured explosive wide men and fringe Socceroos Craig Goodwin (Sparta Rotterdam) and Ben Halloran (V-Varen Nagasaki), while also adding steel in their back four with Michael Jakobsen arriving from Melbourne City.
Joining them is 31-year-old pair Mirko Boland and Danish striker Ken Ilsø, who is adding his 11th club and seventh country to his Passport.
Ilsø will provide either support or an alternative to Olyroo striker George Blackwood, who will be eager in this term to expand on his goal return of 6 in 25 games with Adelaide United.
Like Blackwood, Adelaide is hoping to grow on last year’s effort, where they were knocked out in an elimination final by a late Besart Berisha winner.
However, like the other failed elimination finalist Brisbane, Adelaide were second to the ball for most of that night and underlined their position in the second tier of teams behind the top four clubs.
Sydney FC was Victory’s next scalp, and the bizarre and tragic events of their semi-final loss will burn with the players still with the club.
Steve Corica, in his first senior role, will feel some pressure to step out from Graham Arnold’s shadow and assemble a team in his own image.
This is also a big year for recruit Daniel De Silva as he hopes to rebuild his reputation at one of Australia’s better-resourced clubs.
This season could be massive for De Silva, as he attempts to follow the Aaron Mooy route back into European club football.
Indeed, a midfield attacking trio of De Silva, Ninkovic and De Jong could run A-League defences ragged if Corica can find a formation that complements them.
Prediction
In Corica’s A-League debut anything could happen here. Both clubs are in good FFA form, but Sydney should have the edge for class, and if they find their rhythm goals should come.
I expect a few goals on both sides, and a 2-1 win to Sydney FC.
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