The 2nd round of the A-League kicks off Friday night and there are nine teams that are looking out for their first win, whilst there is plentiful of Greek Australian flavour.

A highlight for Greek Aussie sports fans will be Sunday evening’s fixture between Western Sydney and Newcastle, which will see former Jets players in John Koutroumbis and Dimitri Petratos face their old side for the first time.

“I was in Newcastle for five years, they gave me my first opportunity to become a professional footballer and for that, I am forever grateful,” said Koutroumbis in a club statement.

“I care about the game and I care about getting the win and three points.”

READ MORE: Aiming for the Olyroos: Q&A Johnny Koutroumbis

Coach Arthur Papas’ Newcastle side will also field the only Greek player in the A-League this season in Savvas Siatravanis, who has more than a decade of experience playing in the homeland with teams like Larissa, Iraklis, Apollon Smyrnis and others.

Tonight (Friday), Western United plays host to Perth Glory and the green and blacks will look to strongly to put behind their home loss to Victory last week.

Western United’s fans will be hoping that new recruit and former PAOK striker, Aleksander Prijovic, makes his first start for the club and that he greatly impacts in achieving positive results.

In the first of Saturday’s clashes, Wellington Phoenix will clash with Central Coast with the Mariners hoping for a second away win to secure their place at the top of the ladder.

The New Zealanders, meanwhile, will be hoping for a better result than the draw against Macarthur last week.
On the same night, the city of Sydney will be witnessing another local rivalry when the Sky Blues face Macarthur Bulls at Jubilee Stadium, with both teams drawing in their premiere matches.

Sydney FC are coming off a mid-week thriller against NPL side, Sydney Olympic, in the FFA Cup which saw them dash the cup dreams of the Greek Australian side.

Both teams will be hoping to earn bragging rights over the other as they face each other again on 8 December in the FFA Cup round of 16.

The round’s strongest match is arguably the one between Adelaide United and the reigning Champions, Melbourne City, The Reds host their first home match for the season and their star player, Craig Goodwin, is predicting a hard battle.

“I think we can take the positive and then really look at what we need to work on because we have a big test this Saturday against Melbourne City,” Goodwin said at a press conference on Monday.

Sunday’s first match will see Brisbane play again in Melbourne and they surely will not want to suffer a second defeat in the city, this time at the hands of Melbourne Victory.

Victory will be looking for a second consecutive A-league win as well as a great atmosphere, according to defender Roderick Miranda.

“I hope that AAMI Park is buzzing because the support there (at GMHBA Stadium last week) was unbelievable even if it was an away game,” Miranda said during a press conference with the club.

The full schedule at the time of publication is (all times are AEDT):
Western United – Perth Glory, AAMI Park, Friday 26 Nov, 7.45 p.m.
Wellington Phoenix – Central Coast Mariners, WIN Stadium, Saturday 27 Nov, 5.05 p.m.
Sydney FC – Macarthur Bulls, Netstrata Jubilee Stadium, Saturday 27 Nov, 7.45 p.m.
Adelaide United – Melbourne City, Coopers Stadium, Saturday 27 Nov, 7.45 p.m.
Melbourne Victory – Brisbane Roar, AAMI Park, Sunday 28 Nov, 4.05 p.m.
Western Sydney Wanderers – Newcastle Jets, Commbank Stadium, Sunday 28 Nov, 6.15 p.m.