Sydney FC will need to bounce back if they are to secure a home elimination final when they take on bottom of the ladder Perth Glory at Allianz Stadium this Sunday at 3:00pm.
With this being the final round of the home-and-away season, so much is yet to be worked out, as the Sky Blues could rise above Macarthur FC into fourth place if they win and the Bulls lose to Wellington Phoenix on Saturday.
If Sydney FC go down to the Glory and Melbourne City win, they will sink to sixth and set up a date with the third-highest finishing side, which will be either Melbourne Victory or Macarthur FC, depending on their results.
The Sky Blues will also welcome back Jake Girdwood-Reich and Jordan Courtney Perkins back from their Asian Cup Olyroos campaign.
After going down to the Bulls 1-0 last Saturday night, a win right before their finals campaign would help gain some pre-finals momentum for the side.
But against Macarthur, the Sky Blues “were collectively poor,” as coach Ufuk Talay put it, as Sydney FC struggled to break down a compact Bulls defence.
Joe Lolley was the game-defining presence for the Sky Blues, doing what he’s done best all season as he moved slickly down the right wing all night and thought he scored Sydney FC’s equaliser before it was called offside.
A goal to Jed Drew on the cusp of half-time proved decisive, where he slipped down the left side and planted it past Andrew Redmayne.
With half an hour to go in Perth Glory’s match against Western United last Sunday, it looked like the Glory were going to rise off the bottom of the ladder and escape their second wooden spoon in three years.
Throughout the match, Perth and Western exploited holes in each other’s defence, seeing their back fours often caught standing still.
The gaps in the Glory’s defence, however, proved too much for the side, with the goal scorers breaking free and sneaking past the often stretched and tired-looking defence, seeing the game finish 4-3.
With Perth cemented to finish foot of the table, now that they sit four points below Western United, they have nothing to lose going into this match and will want to overturn a nine-match winless streak.
They will also want to win against the Sky Blues for the first time in two years, and they have only beaten Sydney FC in Sydney six times out of the 29 times they have played in history.
Perth have also conceded 16 goals in their past three encounters, which included an 8-0 thrashing by Melbourne City two weeks ago, adding to their worst defensive record in their club’s history and the third worst defensive record in the history of the Isuzu UTE A-League, conceding 62 goals, six below the Central Coast Mariners 2015/2016 and 2018/2019 seasons of 70 conceded goals.
One’s To Watch: Anthony Caceres vs Kealan Majekodunmi
Anthony Caceres:
Sydney FC’s midfielder, Anthony Caceres, has gone from strength to strength this season, providing crucial passes, finding space and looking to pull and push the defenders around.
Over the past three weeks, he has assisted in two of Sydney FC’s goals, including a picture-perfect loft for Jaiden Kucharski in the Sydney Derby last time the Sky Blues played at Allianz Stadium.
Against the Bulls, Caceres was one of the most worrying players on the pitch, touching the ball 55 times and producing 32 passes, creating one big chance on the night.
The midfielder’s style may work well against Perth’s strained defence as his versatility in manufacturing long passes and short, sharp touches may help him find the holes Western United did against the Glory last week.
Kaelan Majekodunmi:
Kaelan Majekodunmi adopts a Jack Rodwell-esque style of play for the Glory defence.
The six-foot-one 20-year-old has great physicality, making 1.2 tackles per game and recovering the ball close to four times.
The Olyroo was not selected alongside Jake Girdwood-Reich and Jordan Courtney-Perkins for the Asian Cup, but he has shown that he is versatile up front, having one of his best performances against Sydney FC last time outing.
The defender scored the crucial equaliser from a steaming header into the back of the net and controlled the game, dispatching 82 balls and making 103 touches, the most out of any player on the pitch, where he often connected to Golden Boot leader Adam Taggart.
Taggart couldn’t find his usual clinical touch, something that has been a ray of sunshine on Perth’s dismal season, but Majekodunmi proved that he could not only be physical but also embody an essential playmaking style, like Rodwell.
2023/2024 Compare The Pair
| 11-5-10 | SYD-RECORD-PER | 5-7-14 |
| 6-3-1 | H2H LAST 10 GAMES | 1-3-6 |
| 19-4-6 | H2H IN SYD | 6-4-19 |
| 53.7% | POSSESSION PG | 43.8% |
| 1.7 | GOALS SCORED PG | 1.7 |
| 1.5 | GOALS CONCEDED PG | 2.4 |
| 18.4 | SHOTS PG | 13.7 |
| 6.3 | SHOTS ON TARGET PG | 5.1 |
| 2 | CLEAN SHEETS | 2 |
| 3.1 | SAVES PG | 4.2 |
| 376 | PASSES PG | 321 |
| 12.7 | FOULS PG | 10.3 |
| 1.8 | YELLOW CARDS PG | 1.9 |
Team News:
Against Macarthur, no Sydney FC players sustained injuries, and the side will welcome back Jordan Courtney-Perkins and Jake Girdwood-Reich as they return from Olyroos duty.
For Perth, they hope Mustafa Amini’s injury against Western United last week wasn’t too severe after he left the pitch gripping his foot. The Glory will be without Mark Beevers, Adam Zimarino, and Antonis Martis, who all sustained injuries. They will welcome back second-choice goalkeeper Cameron Cook from Olyroos duty.
Last Time Out:
Sydney FC last took on the Perth Glory three weeks ago, where a red card to Jake Girdwood-Reich in the 34th minute saw Sydney FC retreat into defensive mode.
An early penalty to Joe Lolley was good enough to see them gain a point out of the fixture as a 72nd-minute header by Kealan Majekodunmi from a Riley Warland free kick set up a thrilling final 15-minute contest.
But as Perth were for most of the game, they were wasteful with their chances, seeing them suffer a draw that could have resulted in the Glory’s first win since February.
Match Details:
Sydney FC v Perth Glory Isuzu UTE A-League Round 26 Sunday 28th April, 2024 Allianz Stadium, Sydney, NSW Kick off: 3:00PM Gates Open: 2:00PM
Broadcast Live: Paramount+ and 10BOLD Tickets: Click Here
