A-League round 1 preview: Sydney FC vs Newcastle Jets

Sydney FC and Newcastle Jets kick-off season nine of the Hyundai A-League on Friday night with a blockbuster at Allianz Stadium.

Sydney will be hoping for a good start to the season despite a long list of key injuries whilst Newcastle will be hoping they can get back-to-back opening match-day wins against the Sky Blues after prevailing in the same fixture this time last season.

Head-to-Head

Played: 26 | Sydney: 13 | Draw: 7 | Newcastle 6

Sydney FC:

With Sydney missing almost a whole starting XI due to injury and international fixtures, I had to go to Sydney FC’s official website in order to compile a decent team. The latest injury set-back involved Corey Gameiro, who getting a freak accident whilst filming a promo for Fox Sports. This may see Joel Chainese forced into the starting XI.

Injury report: Nick Carle (50/50), Terry McFlynn, Tiago Calvano, Corey Gameiro, Peter Triantis, Pascal Bosschart, Terry Antonis, Brett Emerton

International Duty: Yairo Yau (Panama), Hagi Gligor (Young Socceroos), Christopher Naumoff (Young Socceroos), Josh McDonald (Young Socceroos)

Possible Starting XI (4-3-3):

Janjetovic

Bojic  Ryall  Jurman  Warren

Carle  Grant

Garcia

Malia  Del Piero  Chianese

Newcastle Jets

The Novacastrians will be missing English legend Emile Heskey due to a medial ligament injury and will be sidelined for a couple of weeks. Despite such as setback , Newcastle should be able to field close to their strongest starting XI. Newcastle also made some impressive signings including: Dutch veteran Kew Jaliens, Wanderers’ striker Joey Gibbs, and Socceroo Nathan Burns. There was talk of them possibly using a 3-4-3 this season with Chapman, Jaliens and Galloway in the back, but it doesn’t seem logical considering the abundance of attacking midfielders the Jets have in the squad, so expect it to be more of a 4-2-3-1.

Injury Report:

Emile Heskey

Possible Starting XI (4-2-3-1):

Birighitti

Goodwin  Jaliens  Chapman  Neville

Zadkovich  Briliante

Gibbs  Bridges  Virgili

Burns

Key Players

Sydney: Del Piero: With a lot of players out, it is important that the Italian uses his leadership and talent to motivate and inspire the other players around him. In what could be possibly his last year at the club, he will think it is imperative that he bows out on a high, and getting off to a good start this season will be key for both him and the Sky Blues. On the pitch, his skills will also be vital, who could ever forget his first goal he scored in the A-League?

Newcastle: Josh Brilliante, the man with the magnificent beard (and one I’m incredibly jealous of), will be key for Newcastle, not only for this game but for the season. He was one of the best players in a Young Socceroos side that impressed a lot of people in the U-20 World Cup, and scored an absolute ‘pearler’ against El Salvador in the group stage. As a holding midfielder, it is up to him to plug that gap that the likes of Nicky Carle and Richard Garcia will try to exploit on Friday.

Final Verdict

Newcastle is reminiscent of Tottenham in the English Premier League; their squad looks really good in paper every season, but they often lack the cohesion and the chemistry that title-winning sides have, as well as the consistency and solidity in the defense to become a main threat. This season they have done it again, with a good blend of youth – good young Socceroos players such as Brilliante and Chapman – and experience with veterans such as Jaliens, Heskey and Zadkovich.

Sydney, although low in numbers at the moment, still have enough quality in the squad to win against any team in the competition. The problem for Sydney though will be consistency and adapting to the new style and structure, something coach Frank Farina has been trying to implement throughout the off-season. If the pre-season is anything to go by, Sydney will struggle.The Sky Blues have been trying to play an attractive brand of football, but keeping possession too deep in defence has meant that they have been unable to pass the ball up the pitch, causing a lot of problems, things that players like Zadkovich, Brilliante, Taggart and others can exploit. But hopefully this game will be just like every other opening game of any season, where pre-season results mean nothing.

Both sides have made a lot of changes in the off-season after under-achieving last season and it should be interesting to see how these new players fit in with the team. Will they work well with the other players? Will they work well with their coaches? Will they shine or flop? All these things we will find out in Season 9 of the A-league.

Score Prediction:

Expect this to be to be an entertaining game, but not because of the quality of the play, but rather because of both teams capitalising on errors. Sydney will have home field advantage with The Cove behind them whilst Newcastle have the stronger squad (on paper).

Final Score: 2 – 2

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