Monday night football will return to the Isuzu UTE A-League when Brisbane Roar host Sydney FC to close out the penultimate round of the season.
With the results falling favourably for the Sky Blues, this weekend including a heavy defeat to Wellington Phoenix and Newcastle Jets, finals football is looking more and more likely.
Three points against the Roar will more or less secure finals football for the Sky Blues and an Elimination Final against Adelaide United, Western Sydney Wanderers or the Central Coast Mariners.
Before getting there though, they must navigate the tough task of Brisbane in Queensland.
Sydney FC come into this clash with a massive momentum shift after sweeping aside Perth Glory at Allianz Stadium by 4 goals to 1. All three of the front three got on the scoresheet and contributed with assists too.
The big result appeared to have been coming after scoring three against Western United and creating plenty of chances against Adelaide United during Easter time. The question now will be whether they can continue that form against a team that are notoriously hard to play against on their own patch.
With Adam Le Fondre, Joe Lolley and Robert Mak linking up well once again, Brisbane will need to be on their guard to prevent either of them getting on the scoresheet.
The Roar have come surging up the table in recent weeks after it appeared that they were out of the finals equation. Four points from their last two games has rocketed them from the bottom to right in the hunt and are a very dangerous side to deal with.
Last weekend, they travelled to Auckland to take on Wellington Phoenix and scored a late equaliser to walk away with a point and a 2-2 scoreline. Jay O’Shea was involved once again and scored once again, making it six games in a row with a goal.
The one thing that Brisbane Roar have been is inconsistent with results. One week they will hold Melbourne City at home, then lose heavily to the Mariners. They’ll lose heavily in Newcastle and then beat the Jets convincingly. What Brisbane will turn up will be anyone’s guess.
This will be the third time this season that the two sides have met with Brisbane Roar winning the first encounter and both teams sharing the spoils at Allianz Stadium. In the clash at Redcliffe, Sydney FC were hampered with injuries and sickness and found the going tough but in the reverse leg, had plenty of chances to score but relied on a late goal from former Roar player Alex Parsons to level the score.
Overall, they have met 61 times across all competitions with the record sitting very level between both teams. Sydney have won 21, Brisbane have won 20 and 20 have been drawn. Even the goals are ridiculously even with the Sky Blues scoring three more goals in the fixture than the Roar with 76 and 73 respectively.
With so much on the line, this Monday night fixture is not to be missed as Sydney FC look to aim for yet another finals appearance.
Match Details
Sydney FC v Brisbane Roar
Isuzu UTE A-League Round 25
Monday 24th April
Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, QLD
Kick Off: 7pm AEST
Broadcast Live: Paramount+
Tickets: Click Here – use code SYDNEYFC
