Sunday’s A-League 2016 Round 5 match is between Perth Glory and Western Sydney Wanderers. The opening kick off is set to commence at 19:00 local time with the game to be played at nib Stadium. The home team Perth Glory are the favourites for the match. View our preview and teams for the game between Perth Glory and Western Sydney Wanderers.
Glory’s unbeaten start to the season is over after a 2-1 defeat to Brisbane.
Perth had just 39.3 percent of possession which is normal for Kenny Lowe’s team who try to hit teams on the counter.
Glory skipper Rhys Williams and midfielder Rostyn Griffiths could be in doubt for the match after being substituted against Roar which would be a huge blow.
Andy Keogh (pictured above) scored a hat trick against City two weeks ago and will be keen to get back on the scoresheet again.
Wanderers coach Tony Popovic elected to start Brendon Santalab up front over Kerem Bulut and the decision paid off immediately with Santa grabbing another goal.
Popa has been known to rotate players to prepare for the long trips to Perth and Wellington so don’t be surprised to see a few changes to the starting line-up.
The Wanderers season has yielded just one win so far despite playing some great football and dominating games with the exception of a 4-0 defeat in the round 1 Sydney derby.
They’re traditionally slow starters, but this season they’ve thrown away leads with silly goals in matches which they’ve controlled easily.
In the last two weeks they’ve let both the Jets and the Mariners back into the game when they should’ve killed them off.
KEY BATTLE: Dino Djubic v Brendon Santalab
Santa (pictured above) has become a fan favourite at Wanderland, making a name as a super sub, but he showed he is just as deadly when he gets a rare start, scoring against the Mariners last week.
Djubic has been solid in defence but Sant’s pace will surely cause him a few problems.
The verdict
Both sides come into this match in good form despite last week’s results. I expect an entertaining match which will finish all square.
Unibet Odds: Perth 2.05 Draw 4.75 Western Sydney 3.50
Tip: Perth Glory
Teams:
Perth Glory squad: 2.Alex GRANT, 3.Marc WARREN, 4.Shane LOWRY, 5.Rhys WILLIAMS, 6.Dino DJULBIC, 7.Joel CHIANESE, 8.Rostyn GRIFFITHS (c), 9.Andy KEOGH, 10.Nebojsa MARINKOVIC, 13.Nicholas FEELY (gk), 14.Chris HAROLD, 15.Brandon WILSON, 16.Joe MILLS, 17.Diego CASTRO, 19.Josh RISDON, 22.Adam TAGGART, 24.Milan SMILJANIC, 33.Liam REDDY (gk).
Western Sydney Wanderers FC squad: 1.Jerrad TYSON (gk), 2.Shannon COLE, 3.Jack CLISBY, 5.Brendan HAMILL, 6.Mitch NICHOLS, 7.Steve LUSTICA, 8.Dimas (c), 9.Kerem BULUT, 10.Nicolás MARTÍNEZ, 11.Brendon SANTALAB, 12.Scott NEVILLE, 13.Bruno PIÑATARES, 14.Jumpei KUSUKAMI, 15.Kearyn BACCUS, 17.Artiz BORDA, 18.Robbie CORNTHWAITE, 19.Jacob MELLING, 20.Andrew REDMAYNE (gk).
