The top five positions in the A-League remain unchanged after last week’s round seven, and there was just one change to the top six with the Jets moving in, whilst the Roar sunk three spots to ninth on the ladder.
On Friday night, the Roar will face the daunting challenge of hosting high flying Melbourne Victory in the Rd eight opening fixture.
A subplot to this weekend’s round of matches are the opportunities opening up for A-League-based players, to be selected in Graham Arnold’s Socceroos squad for the Asian Cup in the UAE in January. Injuries to key midfielders Aaron Mooy and Tom Rogic, means there’ll be spots up for grabs. Chris Ikonomidis, Dimi Petratos, Terry Antonis and James Troisi have been mentioned in dispatches and they’ll be looking to continue their impressive form of late.
Saturday’s matches kick off in the land of the Long White Cloud.
Wellington Phoenix v Central Coast Mariners (5.35 pm, Sat 15 Dec, Westpac Stadium)
The Nix produced the upset of the round last weekend by upstaging third placed Sydney FC, 3-1 thanks to a brace from striker Roy Krishna. On current form, against a visiting bottom of the table Mariners still looking for a first win of the season, Phoenix fans will be expecting no less that another win, the third of the season to Mark Rudan’s team. The Mariners depleted attacking stocks have been dealt a further blow by the loss to injury of key recruits Ross McCormack, and Tommy Oar.
Western Sydney Wanderers v Sydney FC (7.50 pm, Sat 15 Dec, ANZ Stadium)
The Sydney derby is the match of the round. The Wanderers bounced back from its heavy away defeat to Melbourne Victory with a much-needed home win against Central Coast Mariners last week. Wanderers coach Markus Babbel has named an unchanged squad for the match against the Sky Blues, who will be determined to continue their recent dominance of this fixture. A crucial match-up could be that of Wanderers’ central defender, Patrick Zeigler, and Sydney’s prolific striker, Adam Le Fondre. It will be Zeigler’s first derby after his debut last week against the Mariners.
Newcastle Jets v Perth Glory (5.00 pm, Sun 16 Dec, McDonald Jones Stadium)
After a slow start to the campaign, there are recent signs the Jets may be starting to rev up, with the squad nearing full strength. Ernie Merrick’s team entered the top six after last week’s 2-0 home win against the Roar, thanks to first goals to Brazilian striker Jair and NPL recruit, Kaine Sheppard. At the other end, Jets keeper Glen Moss was instrumental in keeping the Roar scoreless, and he’ll no doubt be tested again this round by visiting undefeated league leader Perth Glory which possesses a number of goal threats including Andy Keogh, Ikonomidis and evergreen skipper Diego Castro.
Adelaide United v Melbourne City (7.00 pm, Sun 16 Dec, Coopers Stadium)
This fixture closes out the Rd 8 schedule and on paper it may be the hardest to predict. It’s fourth hosting fifth and at stake is a top four place and staying in touch with the top two. Both teams are coming off away losses to the two leading sides last week, in which they felt they deserved a point.
Both teams are suffering at present from the absence of recognised strikers. For City, this is reflected in the fact that Richie De Laet is their equal top scorer on just two goals. With the continued absence of Bruno Fornaroli, coach Warren Joyce could look to Dario Vidosic to lead the line.