FTS A-League Round 12 Preview: Wellington Phoenix vs Western Sydney Wanderers

The final match of round twelve will see Western Sydney travel across the Tasman to take on Wellington at Westpac Stadium on Sunday evening.

The Wanderers travel to Wellington following their unsuccessful trip to Morocco to compete in the FIFA Club World Cup. The Sydney based team were knocked out of the championship in their first match and eventually finished up sixth after going down on penalties to Algerian side Es Setif. The A-League hasn’t proved much better for the Wanderers this season who are situated last on the ladder with zero wins from nine matches.

The Phoenix enter round twelve inside the top four after last week’s away win over Sydney FC. Playoff spots are very much unfamiliar territory for the New Zealand side who have finished last and second last in the last two seasons respectively. The Nix remain unbeaten at home apart from a round one loss to league leaders Perth Glory.

Head to head:

Played 7. Wellington 3, Western Sydney 2, Draws 2.

Last meeting: 7 November, 2014 (Westpac Stadium). Phoenix 1-0 Wanderers.

Wellington Phoenix (Probable): 

Moss; Fenton, Sigmund, Durante, Doyle; Riera, Bonevacia, Gorrin; Burns, McGlinchey, Krishna.

Western Sydney Wanderers (Probable): 

Covic; Hamill, Mullen, Spiranovic, Adeleke; La Rocca, Poljak, Fofanah; Rukavytsya, Juirc, Castelen

Eyes on: 

Glen Moss
The New Zealand international shot stopper was invaluable against Sydney FC last weekend. Moss pulled off a number of saves to keep the Phoenix from going a goal down in the first half and held on in the second half to record his second clean sheet of the season. Interestingly, his first came against the Wanderers back in Wellington back in round five.

Prediction: 

Wellington 2-1 Western Sydney

Playing with home ground advantage Wellington should be too good for a struggling Western Sydney side who will have to wait another week before picking up their first win.

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