If pre-season predictions mean anything then Sydney FC should have no trouble beating Perth on Sunday, but the round three contest is tipped to be anything but a walkover.
If pre-season predictions mean anything then Sydney FC should have no trouble beating Perth on Sunday, with the Sky Blues tipped to be among the top teams and the Glory expected to struggle.
But while Sydney is living up to the hype, Perth has proved a surprise package in the opening two rounds, and John Kosmina and his men are taking nothing for granted.
“It-s not going to be an easy game and they-ll be full of confidence because they-ve got the wood on us, they beat us 4-2 here last season quite comfortably,” said the Sydney Coach. “I thought they played quite well last week (against Newcastle), and they-re a big strong side as well.”
FC keeper, Clint Bolton has been one of his side-s best in since the Hyundai A-League competition kicked off, and he expects another busy afternoon against the Glory.
“I think one thing we-ll get with the Perth game is a very open game, lot of action and that-ll be good for the crowd, but I expect us to avenge our loss to them last year at home,” Bolton explained. “I think we-re a lot more focused and a lot more professional in the way we-re approaching games at the moment so, I think that-s showed in our first two games.”
Sunday-s match should be an open and attacking affair with both teams proving they-ve got plenty of strike power after each put three in the back of the net last weekend.
Sydney-s scoring has so far come without the aid of the club-s marquee man, John Aloisi, but all that could change this weekend.
“Training, feeling good,” said Aloisi after completing another full training session with his team-mates. “It-s up to Kossie when he wants me to play, I-m just looking forward to making my debut whether it-s this game or the following one against Newcastle, I can-t wait.”
Coach, John Kosmina says he-d prefer to rest his highest profile recruit for another week, but he-s yet to make a final decision about whether to unleash his star signing off the bench.
“I-ll toss that one up at the moment, because we are a bit short of bodies, as I said, Stuey-s suspended, we-ve still got some injuries, it might be worth a change up with Johnny there, why not.”
After making good progress on his own road to recovery, Sydney captain, Tony Popovic is also a good chance of starting off the bench on Sunday.
The round three clash with the Glory kicks off at the Sydney Football Stadium at 3pm.
Sunday 31 August
Sydney FC v Perth Glory
Sydney Football Stadium
Local Kick-Off 3.00pm AEST
Referee. Peter Green
Live & exclusive broadcast on Fox Sports 3 and Sky Sports 1. Hyundai A-League club radio broadcast partner is 6PR (Perth). To purchase tickets visit Ticketek.
Sydney FC Squad. 1.Clint BOLTON (gk), 2.Iain FYFE, 4.Simon COLOSIMO, 5.Mitchell PRENTICE, 7.Robbie MIDDLEBY, 10.Steve CORICA, 12.Shannon COLE, 14.Alex BROSQUE, 15.Terry MCFLYNN, 16. Chris PAYNE, 17.Jacob TIMPANO, 19.Mark BRIDGE, 20. Ivan NECEVSKI, 25. Robert MILESKI, 26. Dez GIRALDI.
In. Mitchell Prentice (return suspension).
Out. Stuart Musialik (suspended – 1 week).
Unavailable. John Aloisi (foot – 1 week), Adam Biddle (ankle – 1 week), Adam Casey (groin – 1 week), Mike Enfield (knee – 6 weeks), Tony Popovic (hamstring – 1 week), Brendon Santalab (quadriceps – 2 weeks), Nik Tsattalios (rested).
Perth Glory Squad. 1.Jason PETKOVIC (gk), 2.Nikolai TOPOR-STANLEY, 4.Jamie COYNE (c), 6.Dino DJULBIC, 7.Nick RIZZO, 9.Adrian TRINIDAD, 10.AMARAL, 11.Scott BULLOCH, 13.Nikita RUKAVYTSYA, 14.Eugene DADI, 15.Hayden DOYLE, 16.Adriano PELLEGRINO, 17.James DOWNEY, 20.Frank JURIC (gk), 21.Mark LEE, 24.Anthony SKORICH.
*One to be omitted.
In. 17.James DOWNEY (promoted), 24.Anthony SKORICH (promoted from Youth Team)
Out. 5.Jamie HARNWELL (hip – 2 weeks).
Unavailable. James ROBINSON (stomach – 1 week), Josip MAGDIC (ankle – TBA), Hayden FOXE (foot – 1 week), Naum SEKULOVSKI (hamstring – 1 week), David TARKA (quad – 1 week).
* Head-to-head. All matches (played 9): Sydney FC wins 3, Perth Glory wins 1 (5 draws). In Sydney (played 4): Sydney FC wins 1, Perth Glory wins 1 (2 draws).
