The Harbour City club will host the Western Sydney Wanderers at Allianz Stadium Saturday evening. With only three rounds left before finals, a win for the Sky Blues will put them in with a better chance of a more favourable finals draw.
Sydney FC are currently trailing behind third place Melbourne Victory by six points. Two wins is all Ufuk Talay’s squad need to potentially over take their Big Blue opponents in the case Melbourne Victory fall short.
However, a win against their cross city rivals will well and truly cement Sydney FC’s fourth place position. With only one point separating the Sky Blues and the Red and Black, a win on home turf would be clinical for Sydney FC.
Ones To Watch: Corey Hollman and Zac Sapsford
This weekends lineups will feature some of the A-Leagues best talent, including young guns Corey Hollman and Zac Sapsford. Only a year difference in age, the Sydney Derby will put the young players head-to-head.
Since returning from his injury in late 2023, Hollman has continued to thrive in the A-League. Whilst he is yet to score his maiden A-League goal, Hollman has notched 2 assists and has created three big chances this season. The 20 year-old’s recent involvement with the U23 Olyroos has made the midfielder one the A-Leagues most promising players.
Zac Sapsford has had a positive run with the last two Sydney Derbies, scoring in each of them (one being deflected off Jake Girdwood-Reich as an own goal). The striker has scored five goals this season and two assists. The 21 year-old will be a key player to keep an eye out for this Saturday.
Head-To-Head 2023/2024 Season:
| 10-5-9 | SYD-RECORD-WSW | 10-4-10 |
| 17-9-11 | H2H | 11-9-17 |
| 7-4-6 | H2H AT ALLIANZ STADIUM | 6-4-7 |
| 53.1% | POSSESSION PG | 50.2% |
| 1.8 | GOALS SCORED PG | 1.6 |
| 1.6 | GOALS CONCEDED PG | 1.7 |
| 18.4 | SHOTS PG | 15.7 |
| 6.3 | SHOTS ON TARGET PG | 5.5 |
| 2 | CLEAN SHEETS | 7 |
| 3.0 | SAVES PG | 3.4 |
| 372 | PASSES PG | 390 |
| 1.8 | YELLOW CARDS PG | 1.7 |
| 5 | RED CARDS PG | 5 |
Team News:
The Sky Blues will miss Joe Lacey and Patrick Wood whilst they recover from injuries sustained in earlier rounds. The hosts will also lose Robert Mak after a red card was shown to the Slovakian against the Newcastle Jets last weekend. Jake Girdwood-Reich and Jordan Courtney-Perkins are both unavailable as they are currently in Qatar with the Olyroos for the AFC U23 Asian Cup.
The Western Sydney Wanderers will be without Nicolas Milanovic and Lachlan Brook who are also with the Olyroos in Qatar.
Last Time Out:
For the 37th Sydney Derby, the Sky Blues ventured to Commbank Stadium to take on their cross town foes. Sydney FC dominated the match, keeping the Wanderers away from goal. Co-skipper Rhyan Grant was first to draw blood, scoring in the first three minuted of the match. Grant’s goal was shortly followed by a successful penalty taken by Fabio Gomes after a handball call against WSW. Mak was next to capitalise and Gomes finished off the scoresheet, scoring his second goal and Sydney FC’s fourth. WSW were not entirely silenced following a late attempt from young gun Zac Sapsford. Sapsford’s strike was on target, scraping past Sky Blue goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne. However, it deflected off the boot of Jake Girdwood-Reich resulting in an own goal.
Match Details:
Sydney FC v Western Sydney Wanderers
Isuzu UTE A-League, Round 24
Saturday, April 13th, 2024
Allianz Stadium, Moore Park, NSW
Kick Off: 7:45pm AEDT
Broadcast: Paramount+ & 10BOLD
Purchase Tickets here
