The iconic Sydney Cricket Ground plays host to the standout fixture of Hyundai A-League Round 24 with Sydney FC doing battle with Melbourne Victory in Saturday’s pivotal #BigBlue (kick off 7.50pm AEDT).
There’s always high stakes when these two interstate rivals face-off but there’s a bit extra on the line in this one.
With Perth Glory in the driver’s seat for the Premiership, the race for a crucial top-two position is down to the Sky Blues and Melbourne, with Head Coach Steve Corica’s men currently hold a one-point lead underlining just how massive this clash is.
And the good thing for fans is there is plenty of star power in both squads.
The battle between the likes of Milos Ninkovic, Siem de Jong and Adam Le Fondre for Sydney and Victory’s Keisuke Honda, Ola Toivonen and Kosta Barbarouses should ensure an entertaining 90 minutes at the SCG.
Sky Blues’ boss Steve Corica said he’s confident of bagging the three points at home, whilst also highlighting his squad’s quality in the previous two clashes.
“I feel confident, obviously they’re a good team, they’ve got quality players and they’ve beaten us in the last two games so we need to fix that,” he said.
“I think we’ve played better than them in both games but they’ve got the six points so we’re disappointed with that.
“I believe we’ve played well against them, need to tidy up a few things defensively, but if we do that we’ll go close to getting the three points.”
Key Opta stat
- This will be the second Hyundai A-League fixture played at the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground. The last fixture came in Round 2 as Sydney FC recorded a 2-0 win over the Western Sydney Wanderers.
Ins and outs
Sydney FC squad: 1.Andrew REDMAYNE (gk), 2.Aaron CALVER, 4.Alex WILKINSON, 5.Jop van der LINDEN, 6.Josh BRILLANTE, 7.Michael ZULLO, 8.Paulo RETRE, 9.Adam LE FONDRE, 10.Milos NINKOVIC, 11.Danny DE SILVA, 13.Brandon O’NEILL, 14.Alex BROSQUE, 16.Reza GHOOCHANNEJHAD, 17.Anthony CACERES, 20.Alex CISAK (gk), 22.Siem DE JONG, 23.Rhyan GRANT, 31.Luke IVANOVIC
**two to be omitted**
Ins: 5.Jop van der LINDEN (promoted), 31. Luke IVANOVIC (promoted)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 3.Ben WARLAND (ACL – indefinite), 12.Trent BUHAGIAR (ACL – indefinite), 19.Chris ZUVELA (ACL – indefinite)
Tickets
CLICK HERE to get your tickets for this massive clash at the SCG.
