Adelaide head back to Hindmarsh after a solid win against champions Brisbane. Sitting atop the league standings Adelaide will be looking for another win to increase their two point lead. Perth will be hoping to get striker Shane Smeltz back from a hamstring injury he suffered three weeks ago, and to also buck the win, loss, win, loss trend they are going through at the moment. Perth are not playing the best football at the moment but twice already this year have managed to grab late equalisers, a trait of any great team.
Sunday Afternoon 17:00 AEST Hindmarsh Stadium
The Form
Adelaide United (1st) WIN WIN LOSS WIN WIN
Perth Glory (3rd) WINS LOSS WIN LOSS WIN
Head to Head Adelaide 10 wins Draws 3 Perth 8 wins
Ben Powell assesses the chances of his top of the table Adelaide United (@Bpowell454)
The reds take on Perth at Hindmarsh on Sunday in a top of the table clash 1st vs 3rd.
Adelaide took the 3 points last week with an early free kick goal from Dario Vidosic at the 3 minute mark. The reds then “parked the bus” and mostly defended the rest of the game. I was glad to get the points but although there was some great gutsy defending, I think we could have beaten them playing a more balanced attacking/defending game.
Perth have been in good form this season with 3 wins and 2 losses so far, but they haven’t won away from home and with some key players out on international duty I think they’ll struggle against a confident and in form Adelaide. Miller, Smeltz, Dodd and Mehmet will be the big dangers, but if Osama Malik is on his game we should have no problem controlling possession of the ball.
Cassio is set to return after a stomach bug forced him out of the Brisbane match, I think Nigel Boogard should be the one to make way. Boogard is giving away too many fouls and yellow cards and needs some more discipline in his game to make it back into my starting XI. I think it will be a tough task but Adelaide will win this one but think there will be plenty of scoring.
Eugene Galeckovic will be the key player for Adelaide, his form has been fantastic and he is definitely the top keeper in the league right now, followed closely by Covic and Birighitti.
My prediction would be Adelaide to win 3-2
Perth Glory fan David Meacock looks at his teams chances (@Meacod)
Perth Glory have a bit of a history with Adelaide United.
They’re the closest to a rival that the WA side has ever had in the A-League, apart from (lately) Brisbane Roar and of course their ultimate rivalry of death with Wellington Phoenix – a hatred so strong I can’t speak of it here. The Reds and the Glory have been involved in a number of ding-dong battles; Glory 4 – 2 Adelaide. Adelaide 2 – 3 Glory. Adelaide 3 – 2 Glory. It is not uncommon for there to be goals – and lately, Glory have been on the right side of that ledger.
Burns and Mehmet did the damage the last time these two teams met in the A-League; and Miller, McGarry, and Smeltz piled on three unanswered goals in the match prior. At the same time, Adelaide had numerous chances that they squandered – that miss by Bruce Djite stands out as a true “W-T-F” moment in the sides’ recent history.
This season though, Adelaide look to be a much different proposition to last. Dario Vidosic has been raking in the points for my fantasy side, and he’s been pulling the strings very well in attack (strings that Jeronimo seems to trip over now and then – tricky stuff, that). Neumann himself
appears to be one to watch, for a number of reasons, and the Reds do have some very potent strikers who haven’t even made the starting eleven lately.
Adelaide aren’t top of the table for no reason – but the question most fans ask is do they have the legs to stay there? Perth know all about dominating in patches but being unable to extend that run over a season – can the reds do any different? This weekend marks a really good test for the home side, and also for Glory themselves. Shane Smeltz returns, though perhaps only in a bench role, and it presents an opportunity for Perth to pick up some valuable away points.
In the end though, I think this will be a tight battle between two finals candidates in season 2012/13; and a draw seems the most likely outcome – and something both managers would quietly be pleased with. Breaking with tradition, I’d favour there to be less rather than more goals in this match, too – both teams have defences capable of keeping the opposition at bay.
Prediction: Adelaide 1 – 1 Glory.
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