Week 23 of the A-League season is upon us and the business end of the season is here with the competition for the title and the last finals spot still very much open.
Tonight’s game should have seen the Newcastle Jets secure another three points against the dead men walking from the Gold Coast. The Jets have been a revelation of late and will head into the finals with high hopes of pulling off a campaign that looked destined to fail just a couple of months ago.
Saturday evening sees both Melbourne sides in action. Heart welcome Wellington Phoenix to AAMI Park and Victory go to Sydney for the late kick off. Wins for both Melbourne sides would put Heart six points clear of 7th place Sydney with a far superior goal-difference, whilst Victory’s realistic ambition for the weekend is to simply derail Sydney’s push for 7th place. Jim Magilton will also be hoping for a win to cement his position at the club for next season. Heart will be stretched by a ‘Nix side which is on course for its best ever season and still hasn’t given up on a top two place and a second chance in the finals.
On Sunday, it’s Brisbane Roar vs Adelaide United. Roar got a footballing lesson from FC Tokyo in the Asian Champions League this week, but they stuck to their system and played a brand of football that should be good enough to overcome an Adelaide side that continues to struggle in the A-League.
Adelaide had some welcome relief from their league woes with a good 2-1 win over Bunyodkor on the road in Uzbekistan and will be hoping that they can carry that form over into the league after their long journey home. Table toppers Central Coast Mariners will have to adjust from the zero degree conditions in China to the heat of WA when they drop into Perth on their way back from a credible goalless draw against Tianjin Teda in the ACL. The Mariners are sure to shuffle their pack, with Rogic, Ibini and Sutton having all sat on the bench midweek. Glory, hoping to take advantage of the Mariner’s travel weariness, welcome Shane Smeltz back from injury, but have problems in their midfield with Mile Sterjovski and Adam Hughes both departing for China this week and Liam Miller unavailable due to injury.
