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Wellington Phoenix
2
Match Complete
Western Sydney Wanderers FC
0
| L. Cacace |  | 88' | ||
| 86' |  | P. Ziegler | ||
| 73' | | D. McGowan | ||
| 54' | | P. Schwegler | ||
| U. DA!vila | | 15' |
| 8 | Shots | 14 | ||
| 2 | On Target | 2 | ||
| 8 | Fouls | 15 | ||
| 3 | Corners | 6 | ||
| 2 | Offsides | 1 | ||
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 | ||
| 0 | Yellow Cards | 3 |
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The A-League continues this afternoon when the Wellington Phoenix host the Western Sydney Wanderers. Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match from 2:45pm (AEDT).
How quickly things change in football. At the beginning of this season, the Wellington Phoenix were rooted to the bottom of the table, struggling for any semblance of form, while the Western Sydney Wanderers looked like strong contenders after earning several gritty wins.
Coming into this fixture, though, and things look markedly different. The Kiwis occupy fourth spot, a mere four points from finding themselves in second, while the Wanderers lie in eight, far closer to the bottom than the top of the standings.
The Phoenix triumphed in their last two games by a 2-1 scoreline and will be hopeful of making it a third this Saturday. If Ufuk Talay’s men avoid defeat, it would see them equal their best unbeaten run, achieved under Mark Rudan’s stewardship last season.
The Wanderers lost to the Brisbane Roar last time out and Markus Babbel will know the red and black faithful will be getting ever more restless if things don’t improve. He does have influential midfielder Pirmin Schwegler available again after suspension and the former Swiss international could make an immediate return this weekend to help his team.
Expect marquee signings on both sides to feature heavily. Gary Hooper finished off a wonderful team move for the Phoenix against the Central Coast Mariners and looks to be getting fully fit, and Nicolai Muller has been the main source of inspiration for the Wanderers in the last few rounds.
Prediction
Babbel has insisted that he won’t change his tactics to combat the high-flying Phoenix but he’ll need his own players to step up and deliver better individual performances. They have had a longer recovery period than their hosts but Phoenix are absolutely confident in their play currently and should find a win for the home crowd in Wellington.
When: 2:45pm (AEDT)
Where: Sky Stadium, Wellington
Coverage: Fox Sports, Kayo
Odds: Wellington $2.00, Wanderers $3.50, draw $3.60
Wellington Phoenix predicted line-up
Stefan Marinovic, Tim Payne, Steven Taylor, Luke DeVere, Liberato Cacace, Ulises Davila, Cameron Devlin, Matti Steinmann, Callum McCowatt, David Ball, Gary Hooper
Western Sydney Wanderers predicted line-up
Daniel Lopar, Tarek Elrich, Dylan McGowan, Matt Jurman, Daniel Georgievski, Patrick Ziegler, Pirmin Schwegler, Mohamed Adam, Nicolai Muller, Mitchell Duke, Alexander Meier
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