A top four clash with Auckland and Macarthur and the F3 Derby between Central Coast and Newcastle are the two blockbusters of the week. Elsewhere Brisbane look to capitalise on their first win of the season, Sydney want to return to form and Melbourne Victory hope they’ve returned to winning ways.
Wellington Phoenix have the bye, whilst Melbourne City and Western United sit out the weekend action having already played their Round 17 fixture.
Brisbane Roar v Western Sydney Wanderers
Brisbane Roar are looking for back to back victories for first time in 11 months when they return to Suncorp Stadium.
The Roar stunned Sydney FC in a thrilling 4-3 win in Round 15 before having a bye last weekend. It broke a 12-straight game winless streak to start the season.
Western Sydney have been in some poor form, coming off back to back losses including last weekend’s 1-0 defeat to Auckland FC.
It was an unfortunate result for the Wanderers, who looked to have hung on for a valuable point courtesy of some top-class goalkeeping from Lawrence Thomas.
In front of Socceroos coach Tony Popovic, the Wanderers captain delivered what was close to his best performance of the past 12 months.
Lawrence Thomas stood tall for long periods but Auckland eventually snuck a late goal when Dean Pelekanos failed to clear the ball and the Kiwis switched play to the left flank, where Colombian attacker Nyder Moreno was on hand to tuck the ball past Thomas.
Alen Stajcic’s side has won just one of five games heading into Round 17 and sit ninth on the table, four points outside of the top six. Defeat to Brisbane would leave them at risk of losing touch with the top six.
Auckland FC v Macarthur Bulls
Auckland’s win over the Wanderers saw them move back to the top of the league.
Steve Corica’s side are flying in their maiden campaign and their early-season spark has shown no signs of dimming, besides a minor form dip from mid-December to mid-January (one win in five games), but they’ve bounced back with two wins and a draw since then.
The recent win was nowhere near Auckland’s most polished performance in their short existence, but their habit of snatching late winners is becoming a hallmark of the ALM’s newest club.
More than 40 per cent of Auckland’s goals this season have come in the final quarter of an hour, and the last-gasp victory over the Wanderers followed a 99th-minute equaliser away to Adelaide a week earlier.
Macarthur are also on a decent run too, having defeated fellow top four hopeful Melbourne City last weekend.
Captain Valere Germain powered them to a 1-0 win over City, further entrenching the Bulls in the top six.
A matchup to watch will be young winger Jed Drew, who is in superb form this season, up against Auckland fullback Francis De Vries, which will be pivotal in who will win this top four clash.
Sydney FC v Adelaide United
Sydney FC are winless in three matches but coach Ufuk Talay is adamant his high-quality squad has the mettle to make something of their season.
Last Friday night’s 2-0 defeat to Melbourne Victory followed a 4-3 loss to Brisbane and a 0-0 draw with Wellington.
It’s all left the Sky Blues seventh, at odds with a red-hot start to the season that started with plenty of hype and excitement.
Talay said he agrees with the expectation of the squad he has but not maintaining a starting eleven each week has hurt them.
“But we continue to go. We have the belief that we have a good team. We have good players. We can still finish in a good spot. It’s not doom and gloom. There’s plenty of time to go,” he said.
Adelaide on the other hand are flying, with three wins and a draw in their last five games seeing them sit second. The Reds have lost just one game this season.
Last time these two sides met there was drama aplenty with Adelaide leading 3-1 in second-half stoppage time before a late Sydney surge saw two goals to equalise 3-3.
Central Coast Mariners v Newcastle Jets
It’s the F3 Derby with Central Coast hosting Newcastle.
For the Jets it’s a chance to end the Mariners’ six-game F3 Derby win streak. They haven’t beat them since November 2022 but that win did happen at Industree Group Stadium, where this match will take place.
The Mariners are coming off back-to-back draws, 0-0 to Wellington on Saturday and 2-2 with Western United on Wednesday.
But they have just lost the one game in their last five, as the reigning champions hope to mount a charge toward the top six.
Meanwhile the Jets sit lowly in 11th, and just can’t get their season up and running.
Rob Stanton’s side have won just two of their last 11 games, but the two wins came against the teams sitting below them.
They’d also be ruing they did not win last weekend, blowing a glut of chances in a 2-2 draw with Perth Glory.
The Jets ended the match with 24 shots compared with Glory’s 11, but some poor finishing, bad luck and defensive blips came back to haunt Newcastle.
Perth Glory v Melbourne Victory
After finally claiming his first win as Melbourne Victory interim coach, Arthur Diles said a 2-0 triumph over Sydney FC is just reward for the work put in since Patrick Kisnorbo’s abrupt departure.
In Mitch Langerak’s first game for the club since 2010, Nikos Vergos headed home in the 24th minute to give Victory the lead at AAMI Park.
Bruno Fornaroli scored in the 90th minute to deliver Victory’s first win in 47 days, snapping a six-game winless run.
Victory hadn’t won since beating Perth Glory on December 8, which ultimately proved Kisnorbo’s last game before his departure for Yokohama F. Marinos.
Now they have a great chance to record back-to-back wins for the first time under Diles when they again face off with Glory.
Perth fans will have their first chance to see five new signings in action following a busy transfer window.
Patrick Wood (on loan from Sydney FC), Lachie Wales and Yuto Misao all made their Glory debuts in the 2-2 draw with Newcastle last time out and could be joined by fellow newcomers Takuya Okamoto and Tass Mourdoukoutas this week.
Matchday 17 – Schedule AEDT
Friday 31/1
Brisbane Roar v Western Sydney Wanderers 7.35pm
Saturday 1/2
Auckland FC v Macarthur Bulls 3pm
Sydney FC v Adelaide United 5pm
Central Coast Mariners v Newcastle Jets 7.35pm
Perth Glory v Melbourne Victory 9.45pm
Standings
Teams Win Draw Loss Points
1. Auckland FC 9.3.2.30
2. Adelaide Utd 8.4.1.28
3. Western Utd 7.4.4.25
4. Macarthur 7.3.5.24
5. Melb City 7.3.4.24
6. Melb Victory 6.4.4.22
7. Sydney FC 6.3.6.21
8. Central Coast 4.7.4.19
9. Western Sydney 5.3.6.18
10. Wellington 5.3.6.18
11. Newcastle Jets 3.2.8.11
12. Perth Glory 2.3.10.9
13. Brisbane Roar 1.2.10.5
With AAP
