FTS A-League Round 10 Preview : Adelaide United vs Brisbane Roar
The opening fixture of Round 11 showcases two teams in contrary positions as far as form and development go. Adelaide, on one hand, are well into a Gombau regime that is proving successful and is pushing them into contention for the Championship this season. Brisbane on the other hand are just beginning a rebuilding phase, with the recent dismissal of Mike Mulvey and departures of Berisha, Franjic and most recently Matt Smith forcing the club to rethink it’s strategy going forward.
Interestingly enough, Adelaide haven’t lost at home in 14 A-League matches. Their last loss in Adelaide? When they played Brisbane in December last year. This shows the dominance Adelaide have had at home recently, making Coopers Stadium a fortress, only a fully firing Brisbane in championship-winning form were able to take 3 points from them at home.
This championship-winning form is nothing more than a memory now for the Roar though, who sit outside the top 6 on the table with a negative goal difference and are still lacking a permanent manager. Injuries to key players such as Thomas Broich and Michael Theo have exacerbated the Roar’s troubles, with Henrique’s form being the only shining light so far in a miserable season.
Adelaide look to the game with one eye on the upcoming FFA Cup final against Perth on the 16th of December, potentially resting one or two players for the Brisbane fixture with the midweek game in mind. Adelaide’s utter dominance over Western Sydney last week will be of concern to the Roar, although Brisbane have not had trouble maintaining the ball for most of the season; impacting on the scoreboard another issue.
If the Roar are to get anything out of this game for me, it will take Adelaide’s undoing and potential ignorance toward the domestic fixture. They haven’t shown this kind of weakness in the past with cup fixtures in double-game weeks and it is unlikely that Gombau will rotate his squad too much. Unless Henrique those supporting him can put together a threat on goal similar to how they played against Newcastle a few weeks ago, it is hard to see any other result that Adelaide taking the points.
Head to Head : Played 30. Adelaide 11, Draw 8, Brisbane 11
Last Meeting: 12/10/14 at Suncorp Stadium. Brisbane Roar 1-2 Adelaide United.
Form Guide:
Adelaide United : DWWLW. Brisbane Roar : WLDWL.
Absentee List:
Brisbane Roar: Michael Theo (wrist – 3 weeks), Shane Stefanutto (groin – 5 weeks), George Lambadaridis (knee – 2 weeks), Jack Hingert (knee – 4 weeks), Thomas Broich (ankle – 6 weeks).
Adelaide Utd: Osama Malik (calf – 3-4 weeks), Cassio (calf – 1 week), Paul Izzo (calf – 2-3 weeks), Jordan Elsey (knee – indefinite).
Starting XI:
Adelaide Utd (probable) : Galekovic; McGowan, Boogaard, Elrich; Isaias, Jeggo; Goodwin, Mabil, Sanchez, Cirio, Djite.
Brisbane Roar (probable) : Young; Brown, North, Smith, Bowles; McKay, Brattan, Sarota; Kurtisi, Henrique, Petrartos.
Eyes on… Matt Smith.
Australian football clubs often get criticised for questionable nicknames such as “Victory” and “Roar”, but “Glass” is certainly up there as one of the most obscure, with the club being owned by a glass making company in Thailand . It is indeed the Bangkok Glass that will be where Matt Smith will ply his trade after agreeing to a reported lucrative deal this week; the Adelaide fixture being his last for the Roar.
Starting off at the Brisbane Strikers and moving through the ranks to win three championships and captain the Roar, Smith’s time in the Queensland capital has been one of determination and leadership and you would be silly to to expect anything else from Smith in his final appearance for the club, who is leaving on mutual good terms and will be remembered as a great servant of the team in orange.
Prediction: Adelaide 3-0 Brisbane
FTSAUS FACT
- Despite being at opposite ends of the table, the Roar’s top scorer for this season (Henrique) has two times the amount of goals (6) than Adelaide’s highest scorer (Carrusca and Cirio) (3).
- Brisbane Roar’s largest ever winning margin was against Adelaide United in 2011 when they won 7-1 at Suncorp Stadium. Henrique is the only player remaining from that team that started that day that is likely to lineup next week for the Roar.