Hooroo Olyroo
Brisbane sit top of the A-League once again on the back of four straight wins, the last of which came last Saturday against Perth Glory in a game the home side controlled for large periods.
This week the league leaders head across the Tasman for their third and final clash of the regular season with Wellington Phoenix in a game which will see both sides missing a host of big names.
The two sides enter the game heading in different directions with Brisbane fresh off two home games and a four game winning streak, including a 2-1 win over Perth Glory last Saturday.
Wellington meanwhile have been on the road for the past month and have been without a win in their past four matches, including a last up 3-1 loss to Central Coast in the traditional New Years Eve clash in Gosford.
Brisbane will be without Jamie Maclaren, Brandon Borrello and James Donachie who are away on Olyroos duty for the month of January, which should see the likes of Henrique and Jean Carlos Solórzano get their chance from the start, while talented youngsters Devante Clut and Shannon Brady are a chance of appearing on the substitute bench. Michael Theo and Luke DeVere have been overlooked for this weekend, with the duo set to feature in a third NYL game to build up match sharpness.
Meanwhile for the Phoenix the suspension bug has bitten them hard this week with Manny Muscat, Roly Bonevacia and Alex Rodriguez all out, as is Roy Krishna who misses out with injury. It will be a massive test of the Phoenix’s depth, although the home side will be bolstered by the return of midfielder Albert Riera and forward Jeffrey Sarpong.
It’s been a relatively quiet week for news here in Brisbane, with just a small amount of talk about some of the clubs dozen free agents popping up. Jade North is expected to be the first of many players to re-commit to the Roar in the coming weeks according to media reports.
In the W-League, Brisbane kept their finals hopes alive win a convincing win in Adelaide last week, and they’ll need another 3 points on Sunday against Melbourne Victory on the Gold Coast if they are to continue their late resurgence.
Entering the penultimate round of the competition, Brisbane sit 6th on the table, however they are on an equal number of points as 4th placed Adelaide. In this weekends round of matches, the Roar host last placed Victory, while 4th placed Adelaide travel to Perth and 5th placed Newcastle travel to Sydney FC.
Finally to the National Youth League where Brisbane missed a golden opportunity to go top of the Conference A standings last week after they suffered a 1-0 loss at home to last placed Perth Glory.
With just two rounds to play, Adelaide now hold a six point gap, however they have played a game extra, which gives some hope to second placed City and third placed Brisbane who sit 5 and 6 points back respectively and meet on Saturday afternoon in Brisbane.
Adelaide meanwhile can clinch their spot in the Grand Final with a win on Sunday against Perth, although a draw would also make it impossible for Brisbane to overhaul the Reds.
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