Sunday’s A-League 2013/14 Grand Final match is between Brisbane Roar and Western Sydney Wanderers. The opening kick-off is set to commence at 4pm AEST with the game to be played at Suncorp Stadium. The home team Brisbane Roar are the favourites for the match. View our live scores and teams for the game between Brisbane Roar and Western Sydney Wanderers.
Round: Grand Final, Sunday May 4 at 4pm AEST
Stadium: Suncorp Stadium
Head to head: Played: 7, Wins: Roar 1, Wanderers 4, Draws: 2
Previous encounter: Wanderers 1-1 Roar, April 5, 2014
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Odds Comparison:
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| Brisbane Roar | 2.10 | 2.12 | 2.05 | 2.12 | 2.10 | 2.25 |
| Draw | 3.50 | 3.35 | 3.25 | 3.35 | 3.50 | 3.40 |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | 3.45 | 3.50 | 3.50 | 3.50 | 3.45 | 3.00 |
All odds are subject to change. Odds listed are correct at the time of the latest update.
Teams:
Preview:
Form:
Past five matches (in all competitions):
Wanderers: WWWWD
Mariners: WLDWW
The Game:
Here it is then, the big one. Having finished first and second on the ladder, you can’t say these two teams don’t deserve to be vying for the top prize on the final day of the season.
Taking to the field on Sunday evening will mark an impressive comeback from the Roar, who, after losing Ange Postecoglou to Melbourne Victory, looked to have fallen apart. At the start of last season they were a shadow of the team that won successive grand finals in 2011 and 2012, but Mike Mulvey righted the ship to get them as far as the semi-finals.
A year later they’ve gone one better, and are now within 90 minutes (or possibly 120 and penalties) of claiming their third title in four seasons, a feat which would surely see this group of players heralded as the best team in the A-League’s brief history.
The Wanderers meanwhile have made a huge impact on the competition since their inception, not least with their noisy and colourful supporters, who will ensure a good portion of that orange fortress, Suncorp Stadium, turns black and red this weekend.
They couldn’t repeat the premier’s plate triumph of their debut season, but the Wanderers have been mightily impressive in 2013-14, balancing their domestic commitments with an AFC Champions League campaign that will last beyond the end of the A-League season, win or lose in Brisbane. Tony Popovic will have no intention of granting the Roar a straight forward coronation on Sunday.
The big issue:
Roar – We’ve had plenty of time to get used to these two sides and they’re not going to change now. Brisbane will seek to dominate possession through Liam Miller, Matt McKay and Luke Brattan, with Thomas Broich linking midfield and attack to supply Besart Berisha and Dimitri Petratos with ammunition. Petratos picked up a knock against Victory and while Mulvey has claimed the young forward is likely to recover, he also has Henrique and Jean Carlos Solorzano to call on.
Wanderers – Tony Popovic isn’t going to alter his tried and tested counter-attacking 4-3-3, it’s just a question of which personnel the coach, not averse to some selection surprises, chooses to employ. Mark Bridge, usually first choice in a wide attacking role, is set to miss out due to injury, meaning one of Labinot Haliti or Shannon Cole is likely to come into the first XI.
The game breaker:
Youssouf Hersi. There are so many potential match-winners to choose from on either side, with Berisha and Broich the Roar’s chief dangermen, and Ono, Haliti, Santalab and Juric all capable of making the difference for Western Sydney.
But we’re going for Youssouf Hersi as the one to watch. Absent from last year’s grand final through suspension, the flying winger hasn’t quite matched the heights of last season, but when he’s on, the Wanderers fire. The Ethiopian-born Dutchman scored a crucial goal away to Melbourne Heart in Round 27 to seal an all-important top-two finish for the Wanderers, and also opened the scoring in the semi-final at home to Central Coast last weekend.
News:
Brisbane Roar coach Mike Mulvey has issued a rallying cry to home supporters imploring them to “out-sing” the masses of travelling Wanderers fans attending Sunday’s Hyundai A-League Grand Final.
The A-League grand final sold-out this week with 50,000 or more fans set to descend on Suncorp Stadium as Roar host Western Sydney Wanderers in a blockbuster between the top two sides in the A-League.
An estimated 10,000 Wanderers fans are descending on Brisbane this weekend, with it looming as the noisiest and most electric game in A-League history.
And Mulvey hopes the fans can be Roar’s 12th man as they search for a third Championship in four years.
“I think the home ground advantage is massive tomorrow. One thing I’m looking forward to is that Wanderers are bringing allegedly 10,000 fans,” Mulvey said at the official pre-match press conference.
“And I’ve been in their stadium on match day and it’s a wonderful atmosphere. But it’s also quite one-sided.
“We’ve got a chance tomorrow with our fans – there’ll be 40,000 of them – to out-sing them.
“We’re really looking forward to that. They [Wanderers fans] make a lot of noise but their stadium is very petite and this [Suncorp] is a vast stadium with a fantastic atmosphere.
“I’m really looking forward to hearing the hearts and voices of our fans tomorrow.”
And with this game set to smash viewing numbers globally, it should be a great advertisement for the football and atmosphere on offer in the A-League.
Equally, Wanderers coach Tony Popovic was equally up-beat about his fans playing the role of 12th man.
“That’s great that it’ll be a full stadium. We’ll have our fans and Brisbane have very passionate fans themselves,” he said.
“But our fans are very vocal fans and passionate fans and we may be smaller in numbers but certainly they’ll make some noise, so we’re looking forward to that.
“It’s special. It’s not just for our team, but they’ve been special for the A-League. They’ve really added to the league, they travel all over the country to support us,” said Popovic.
“There are people driving, on trains and on flights if they could get flights.”
“They are very passionate about this team and they’ll certainly add to the atmosphere and we’re honoured to have that kind of support.”
