Sydney FC and APIA Leichhardt will lock horns on Wednesday night in what is set to be a cup showdown between two iconic Sydney teams.
The Sky Blues come into this match having dispatched the Central Coast Mariners in the previous round on penalties in a thrilling contest that finished 3-3 after extra time, with both sides trading a goal in the additional 30. It was a dramatic penalty shoot-out with every player on the pitch taking a penalty and Sydney FC goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne scoring the winning spot kick moments after saving one.
It went down as an Australia Cup classic and Steve Corica’s side will be hoping that this time around it will be much less stressful when they visit APIA.
The Tigers are buzzing after coming off a massive win on Saturday afternoon which saw them win the NPL title, finishing at the top of the table with a 3-1 victory over St George. APIA finished six points ahead of Rockdale City Suns which gives them their first title since 2017.
In the Australia Cup, APIA have caused two upsets previously having beaten Melbourne Victory and Western Sydney Wanderers in 2018 and 2021 respectively, both at Leichhardt Oval.
APIA usually play their football out of Lambert Park, however due to the large nature and big crowd expected, this fixture has been moved to Leichhardt Oval which was used as a home base for the Sky Blues during the Allianz Stadium re-build. In that time, Sydney FC have played 10 Isuzu UTE A-League matches, winning four, drawing four and losing two.
This will be the Tigers’ 5th Australia Cup match at Leichhardt Oval of which they have won two and lost two, losing to Adelaide United and Central Coast Mariners. Sydney FC have played three cup ties here, beating the Mariners and Melbourne City there, but falling to Brisbane Roar in 2019.
These two sides have never met in competitive action and will be eager to win the first match-up between these two Sydney sides.
Max Burgess will be unavailable for this clash as he serves the second of his two game suspension for the red card that he picked up against Melbourne City in last season’s Semi Final.
This promises to be a bumper clash between two Sydney teams with a large crowd expected for this mid-week cup match.
Match Details
APIA Leichhardt v Sydney FC
Australia Cup Round of 16
Wednesday 30th August 2023
Leichhardt Oval, Leichhardt, NSW
Kick Off: 7:30pm AEST
Gates Open: 6:00pm AEST
Broadcast Live: 10Play
Tickets: Click Here
