Round 25 Preview
Three rounds remain, and the playoff picture is starting to look a little clearer. Phoenix and Heart are seemingly out of the finals race, and much to the surprise of the entire league Western Sydney has one hand on top spot, being five points clear on the wearily finishing Mariners. Two points separate 5th – 8th (Newcastle has played one more game); the last few weeks will be interesting to say the least. Bring on the action!
Adelaide United v Newcastle Jets
Friday Night Hindmarsh Stadium 19:30 AEDT
After their horrendous midseason streak Adelaide appear to be finding the form that saw them secure a finals place earlier in the season. Buoyed by a Socceroos call up Eugene Galekovic is the hottest keeper in the league, and will be determined to keep another clean sheet at home. The Reds managed to control the game last week in the midfield and will be looking to continue that trend.
One more year
Michael Bridges will be one of those Jets players tasked with finding the back of the net against Galekovic, after announcing a one year extension during the week Bridges will be determined to quickly repay the faith to the Jets in their quest for finals football. With only two games remaining and a poor goal difference this is crunch time for the Jets, can they rediscover #HeskeyTime?
| REDS | WIN | LOSS | DRAW | LOSS | WIN |
| JETS | WIN | DRAW | WIN | LOSS | LOSS |
| Form Rating | REDS | 1.40 | Points | REDS (4th) | 39 |
| JETS | 1.40 | JETS (6th) | 30 |
Head to Head
Adelaide 10 wins Draws 7 Newcastle 7 wins
The Story so far this season
Newcastle 0 drew with Adelaide 0 at Hunter Stadium
Newcastle defeated Adelaide 2 at Hunter Stadium
Hardsy says: Adelaide 2 Newcastle 0
Monday’s Headline: Reds hot form continues
Melbourne Heart v Western Sydney Wanderers
Saturday Afternoon AAMI Park 17:30 AEDT
It’s hot v cold this week at AAMI Park. Going for an incredible 10 wins on the trot the Wanderers could even finalise top position over the weekend, and incredible effort and a phenomenal one considering it’s their debut season! The usual suspects of Ono, Mooy and Covic continue to lead the way, but spiritual leader Topor-Stanley is the man who is in the hottest form. Can someone tell Holger about this guy?
Under Pressure
Having never beaten the Wanderers Heart will once again look to revive their finals campaign. John Aloisi continues to search for his best starting XI but one thing the Heart need is just that ‘Heart’. The team have failed to show any fight this season when finding themselves behind, a frightening statistic that sums up their season. It’s all or nothing this Saturday for the Heart, and for their small fan base I’m afraid it will be the latter.
| MH | WIN | LOSS | WIN | LOSS | LOSS |
| WSW | WIN | WIN | WIN | WIN | WIN |
| Form Rating | MH | 1.20 | Points | MH (9th) | 27 |
| WSW | 3.00 | WSW (1st) | 50 |
Head to Head
Melbourne 0 wins Draws 0 Western Sydney 2 wins
The Story so far this season
Western Sydney 1 defeated Melbourne Heart 0 at Parramatta Stadium
Western Sydney 2 defeated Melbourne Heart 1 at Parramatta Stadium
Hardsy says: Melbourne Heart 1 Western Sydney 3
Monday’s Headline: Coaching isn’t very AloEASY
Sydney FC v Melbourne Victory
Saturday Night 19:30 AEDT Allianz Stadium
Some call it ‘The big blue’ to other’s it’s just Sydney v Melbourne, whatever you call it make sure you tune into the contest this Saturday night. Sydney has managed to sneak back into the fifth position but have a very tough run home. Last week the Bling of Sydney managed to outplay season front runners Central Coast, and in the process managed to help out cross town rivals Western Sydney. The most pleasing thing for Frank Farina and ‘The Cove’ would have been not seeing Del Piero on the scoresheet whilst picking up the three points. Lucas Neill might come back into the starting line up after missing through a calf injury, but it may be a tough line up to break into.
Out for 3-4 weeks
Victory managed to grab a point up in Brisbane last weekend, and the momentum slowly builds towards the post season. A home knockout final awaits Ange’s men, and his main concern at the moment is the health of defender Traore. At present he is out for 3-4 weeks, fans around the league will be hopeful of a finals return. Maybe he has time to study for a citizenship test? FFA, get this man a tutor and a ticket to Brazil.
Sydney has all to play for and I expect a big home crowd to attempt to get them over the line. Will that be enough? I’ll let you know at around 10:00pm Saturday night.
| SYD | WIN | WIN | LOSS | LOSS | WIN |
| MV | LOSS | LOSS | LOSS | DRAW | WIN |
| Form Rating | SYD | 1.80 | Points | SYD (5th) | 30 |
| MV | 0.80 | MV (3rd) | 40 |
Head to Head
Sydney 6 wins Draws 11 Melbourne Victory 9 wins
The Story so far this season
Melbourne Victory 3 defeated Sydney 1 at AAMI Park
Sydney FC 2 lost to Melbourne Victory 3 at Allianz Stadium
Hardsy says: Sydney 2 Melbourne 2
Monday’s Headline: Big Blue stalemate
Central Coast Mariners v Brisbane Roar
Sunday Evening 17:00 AEDT Bluetongue Stadium
Five is the key number for the Mariners, not only is it the amount of consecutive penalties the club has missed, but it’s the number of points they now find themselves behind league leaders Western Sydney. Faced with another Asian champion’s league loss and heavy legs they now find themselves up against a club in Brisbane who are starting to find some good form. A win will almost secure the double chance for them, but a loss could hand the golden toilet seat to the Parramatta faithful.
What’s in a name?
Brisbane is in the unwanted 7th spot, but do have the best goal difference amongst those competing for the last two finals places. Theo kept Brisbane in the game last week against Victory and rediscovered the form that made the rest of the league shake in their boots, now if only he could find those letters that used to be at the end of his name, talk about Sampson losing his hair. Mitch Nichols is starting to string solid matches together and if all goes to plan Brisbane’s threepeat could still be on track.
Brisbane have too much at stake, I’m tipping an away win to further extend their head to head dominance.
| CCM | WIN | LOSS | WIN | LOSS | LOSS |
| ROAR | LOSS | WIN | DRAW | WIN | DRAW |
| Form Rating | CCM | 1.20 | Points | CCM (2nd) | 45 |
| ROAR | 1.60 | ROAR (7th) | 29 |
Head to Head
Central Coast 5 wins Draws 9 Brisbane 16 wins
The Story so far this season
Brisbane 2 drew with Central Coast 2 at Suncorp Stadium
Central Coast 2 defeated Brisbane 1 at Bluetongue Stadium
Hardsy says: Central Coast 1 Brisbane 2
Monday’s Headline: Mariners pay the Penalty
Perth Glory v Wellington Phoenix
Sunday Evening 19:00 AEDT
Is Perth still a contender? We will have a much better idea late Sunday night (or Monday morning for those in Wellington). Why the ALeague have scheduled Wellington for a late Sunday evening kickoff in Perth is beyond me, but hey I don’t do the fixture. Maybe ‘From the Stands’ should look at doing a dummy run for the 2013/14 fixture. Ok back to the action on the pitch. Perth is starting to play great football under the new direction of Alistair Edwards. I must say as a neutral they are playing some very good football, and are one of the better teams to watch.
Golden Boot?
Jeremy Brockie FC, AKA Wellington are now out of finals contention but have started to play some good consistent football. Last week they were unlucky not to walk away with at least a point, but that is the way their season has gone. Player contracts will be the big talking point across the ditch, and it will be interesting if players play for themselves or each other over the remaining two games.
Perth should win, and continue their resurgence.
| PG | LOSS | WIN | LOSS | WIN | WIN |
| NIX | LOSS | DRAW | LOSS | WIN | LOSS |
| Form Rating | PG | 1.80 | Points | PG (8th) | 28 |
| NIX | 0.80 | NIX (10th) | 24 |
Head to Head
Perth 7 wins Draws 3 Wellington 9 wins
The Story so far this season
Wellington 1 defeated Perth 0 at Eden Park
Perth 1 drew with Wellington 1 at NIB Stadium
Hardsy says: Perth 1 Wellington 0
Monday’s Headline: Simply Gloryious
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