Nix In Bottom Of Table Clash

After last week’s home loss to the Western Sydney Wanderers the Phoenix now find themselves at the arse end of the A-League table. The team has now suffered three straight losses and their finals hopes look all but over unless they can reverse their terrible form of late and go on a winning run towards the season’s end. It’s now or never and it must start this week against fellow strugglers Sydney FC.

Sydney has occupied the bottom spot on the ladder for most of the season, only lifting above the Phoenix last week after their come from behind win over the Melbourne Heart.

Why the Phoenix can win?

Sydney are having a season similar to the Phoenix in which they just can’t seem to get any consistency in their game. One week they play some great football and look like a team worthy of a finals spot, the next week they look like they belong in the reserve grades. Taking that erratic form into account, this is a winnable game for the Nix if they turn up to compete. The key lies in the Nix defense which has really let them down over the last three weeks, especially in the second half of the match against the Wanderers where both goals came from defensive errors. If the Nix can get back to doing the basics correctly and start stringing passes together then they can win this match.

Why they could lose?

Last week’s come from behind win would have given Sydney a lot of confidence which should carry over into this week’s game. Meanwhile the Nix will be turning up with little to no confidence in their game and if Sydney are the first to score in this match you get the feeling that it would be game over. Ricki Herbert needs to find a way to lift the team’s spirits and convince them that they are good enough to get the job done or else Sydney could potentially end their season this weekend. At least there is no threat of relegation in the A-League. Not yet.

Prediction

These two teams have a pretty even record when it comes to head to head encounters. They have already played twice this season with the wins being shared one a piece, both matches having been played in Wellington. While I am not confident enough to tip a Phoenix win this week I do think they are good enough to get a draw.

Sydney 1-1 Wellington

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