FFA Cup Quarterfinal Preview: Sydney FC vs Adelaide United
Could Gameiro prove to be the match winner for Sydney FC in their FFA Cup encounter with Adelaide United?
Quarter Final two of the inaugural FFA Cup will see Sydney Fc host fellow A-League side Adelaide United. This game promises a lot given the form of both sides in the league competition with both teams currently sitting on 4 points after 2 rounds.
Sydney Fc will come into this fixture on a high after they saw off their cross-city rivals last Saturday night in what will go down as one of the more memorable nights for the club. However things could have easily been very different for the sky blues given that in both of their first two fixtures they have been behind at half time (1-0 against Melbourne City and 2-1 against the Wanderers). In terms of this cup competition, they will be hoping to replicate the performance the team put in against Sydney United in the round of 16. On that night Christopher Naumoff made a name for himself with two high quality finishes.
Adelaide United on the other hand will be coming into this fixture possibly more rested then their opponents. The reds will have mixed feelings about their last result in which they drew one all with the club’s main rivals Melbourne Victory. The team would’ve thought they had won it when Cirio scored in the 85th minute only to be cancelled out by Victory scoring 4 minutes later to silence a massive crowd of 35,000 at the Adelaide Oval. In terms of the FFA Cup they will be confident of knocking another A-league opposition over after previously beating Brisbane and Wellington.
Team Profiles
Sydney Fc:
- Founded: 2004.
- Current Competition: Hyundai A-League.
- A-League Premiers: 2009-10.
- A-League Champions: 2006 and 2010
Adelaide United:
- Founded: 2003.
- Current Competition: Hyundai A-League.
- A-League Premiers: 2005-06.
Road to the Quarters
Sydney Fc:
Win vs Melbourne City (3-1)
Win vs Sydney United (3-1)
Adelaide United:
Win vs Wellington Phoenix (1-0)
Win vs Brisbane Roar (2-0)
Key Players:
Since both sides played only 4-5 days ago and will play again on the weekend forthcoming, we should expect to see some player rotation for this fixture. With the expected heavy rotation this section becomes difficult to predict. Sydney Fc will most likely rotate some of their back line but I expect Nikola Petkovic to survive this and therefore become key for Sydney. Do expect solid performances from Ali Abbas and Naumoff who were both on the bench for the derby.
Adelaide on the other hand are more rested with the extra day to recover and won’t play again till Sunday. Therefore it is hard to see drastic changes in their line-up. Key to them particularly in attack is Bruce Djite, who looks to be Gombau’s first choice this season and scored a double against the Roar in the previous round. Others too look out for are Cirio and Galekovic.
Prediction: Sydney to advance on penalties.
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