Here’s five things you need to know ahead of our match up against Oakleigh Cannons in the Australia Cup Round of 32.
Potential Debuts
This will be the first chance we have to see Anas Ouahim in action with the Moroccan set to debut against the Oakleigh Cannons much like Joe Lolley did two years ago.
He won’t be the only one though, with goalkeeper Harrison Devenish-Meares looking for his first minutes between the sticks.
Over the off-season, Ufuk Talay has also promoted a number of young players who are still looking for their first minutes of professional football which includes Joe Lacey, Tiago Quintal, Lachie Middleton & Marin France.
It will be exciting to see these players pull on a Sky Blue jersey for the first time and perform to the best of their ability as they look to impress the boss.
In Season vs First Game
With the Australia Cup running at the tail end of the NPL season and before the start of the Isuzu UTE A-League campaign, this gives Oakleigh Cannons an advantage in being match sharp.
They currently sit inside the top three in the Victorian NPL with two games remaining and will compete in the final of the Dockerty Cup against South Melbourne FC with that game set to be played on the Saturday following their Australia Cup clash against Sydney FC.
Their form in the backend of the 2024 season has seen them slip down the table a little with first place now out of reach but being in season will have them firing compared to the Sky Blues who don’t start their A-League season until the second weekend in October.
It will be interesting to see how both teams tackle the match with this in mind.
Past Meetings
This will be the second time that these two sides have met with the only previous encounter coming in the 2022 edition of the cup where the Cannons defeated the Sky Blues.
Two goals up in the first half, the Victorians sat back and made life difficult for Sydney FC and a late Adrian Segecic strike in the second stanza wasn’t enough for Steve Corica’s team to force extra time and penalties with Oakleigh recording one of their biggest results in their history.
Injuries and Suspensions
Sydney FC will be without Anthony Caceres for this clash with the midfielder serving his one match suspension following his red card in last season’s Semi Final against the Central Coast Mariners.
Joe Lolley will also miss this clash as he recovers from his surgery which he had at the conclusion of the 2023/24 season which saw him remain off his feet for a two week period.
Patrick Wood is also nursing the foot injury which plagued him during much of last campaign after he had surgery too. The Sky Blues will be without Max Burgess who picked up a calf injury in the last week of training.
As for Oakleigh Cannons they have no major injury concerns with former Perth Glory winger Stefan Valentini recovering from a knock to start on Saturday in their 3-1 win over Melbourne Knights.
Jacob Tratt has also recently signed for Oakleigh and will likely start against his former club on Tuesday night.
The Finer Details
This match will be broadcast on 10Play within Australia and will be the feature match including pre and post match coverage from the 10 Football Studios.
Tickets are available for purchase here.
Oakleigh Cannons v Sydney FC
Australia Cup Round of 32
Tuesday 30th July 2024
Home of the Matildas, Melbourne, VIC
Kick Off: 7:30pm AEST
Broadcast Live: 10Play
Tickets: Click Here
