Struggling Perth Glory welcome Western Sydney Wanderers to their temporary home of Macedonia Park on Thursday in the Australian A-League.
Perth sit bottom of the standings currently, a position which has become all too familiar for the club recently.
Match preview
Having lost two thirds of their games so far this season, it is no surprise to see Glory propping up the table.
With their home ground under renovation for the upcoming Women’s World Cup too, they have been unfortunate at needing to play seven of their nine games so far away from home.
Their home venue is still not ready either, so moving to Macedonia Park temporarily has not been ideal but still relatively successful.
They have picked up more points in their two games at their makeshift home ground than they have done in seven away games in the league this season, so that may give them some confidence going into this tie.
One blow they have needed to deal with in the past month was losing star player Bruno Fornaroli on a free after a contract dispute, leaving a huge void in attack.
Having been AFC Champions League participants in 2020, they are on course for back-to-back bottom-placed finishes in the A-League if current form continues.
Western Sydney’s season is going much better in comparison, despite a mini blip following the World Cup break.
Wanderers failed to win any of their first three games after the A-League returned last month and were in danger of falling outside the two semi-final playoff spots in the standings.
Those results left Melbourne City clear at the top of the table and allowed the sides below Mark Rudan’s men to catch up.
A 5-1 friendly defeat to a low-scoring Everton outfit from the Premier League during the season’s intermission may have dented confidence too.
However, they got their season back on track with a routine 4-0 victory over Macarthur FC on New Year’s Day.
They remain in the top two for now, but both Central Coast Mariners and Adelaide United are within touching distance, waiting to pounce on any more possible slip ups.
Team News
Luke Bodnar is back from injury for Perth and made a four-minute cameo off the bench in their last game, meaning he could be in contention to start.
41-year-old goalkeeper Liam Reddy is set to make his 21st consecutive appearance should he start again here.
Jarrod Carluccio will miss out for Western Sydney as he has not featured since an injury-time cameo against Brisbane Roar all the way back on matchday three.
Tomislav Mrcela and Brandon Borrello were both cautioned in the win over Macarthur so, along with Gabriel Cleur, they are one more yellow card away from a ban.
Perth Glory possible starting lineup:
Reddy; Khelifi, Muir, Lachman, Beevers, Clisby; R Williams, Amini, Duncan, Jelacic; D Williams
Western Sydney Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Thomas; Cleur, Mrcela, Marcelo, Traore; Borrello, Amalfitano, Nieuwenhof, Bozanic, Yengi; N’Gbakoto