Melbourne City - Sydney FC Preview

Michael Huguenin

Melbourne City - Sydney FC Preview image

After their first loss of the A-League season, Sydney FC will head south to AAMI Park where Melbourne City will be keen to increase the Sky Blues' pain.

SQUADS

Melbourne City squad: 1.Thomas SORENSEN (gk), 2.Manny MUSCAT, 3.Josh ROSE, 5.Ivan FRANJIC, 6.Osama MALIK, 8.Neil KILKENNY, 9.Nicolas COLAZO, 10.Anthony CACERES, 11.Bruce KAMAU, 12.Nick FITZGERALD, 17.Tim CAHILL, 18.Paulo RETRE, 21.Ruon TONGYIK, 23.Bruno FORNAROLI (c), 26.Luke BRATTAN, 27.Fernando BRANDAN, 34.Denis GENREAU, 40.Yaren SOZER (gk)

**two to be omitted**

Ins: 5.Ivan FRANJIC (returns from injury), 11.Bruce KAMAU (promoted)

Outs: Nil

Unavailable: 7.Corey GAMEIRO (ACL – season), 20.Dean BOUZANIS (gk) (suspended – 3 weeks), 22.Michael JAKOBSEN (calf – 1 week), 28.Steve KUZMANOVSKI (ACL – season)

Sydney FC squad: 1.Andrew REDMAYNE (gk), 4.Alex WILKINSON, 5.Jordy BUIJS, 6.Joshua BRILLANTE, 7.Michael ZULLO, 8.Milos DIMITRIJEVIC, 9.BOBÔ, 10.Milos NINKOVIC, 11.Bernie IBINI, 12.Aaron CALVER, 13.Brandon O'NEILL, 14.Alex BROSQUE (c), 17.David CARNEY, 18.Matt SIMON, 19.George BLACKWOOD, 20.Danny VUKOVIC (gk), 21.Filip HOLOSKO, 23.Rhyan GRANT

**two to be omitted**

Ins: 12.Aaron CALVER (promoted), 19.George BLACKWOOD (promoted)

Outs: Nil

Unavailable: 22.Seb RYALL (hamstring – 3-4 weeks)

BLUFFER'S GUIDE

The Sky Blues' attempt to become the A-League's first 'Invincibles' side is over after last week's derby defeat.

Now Sydney need to ensure they don't throw away their impressive lead at the top of the table with second-placed Melbourne Victory having reduced the gap to eight points in Round 20.

When Brisbane Roar's record 36-game unbeaten run ended in 2011, the Queensland-based club went on to lose five straight matches - not a great omen for Sydney, although coach Graham Arnold dismissed that as a factor this week.

Perhaps more important is the league-leaders' poor recent record at AAMI Park - they haven't won at the venue in five A-League matches against the two Melbourne clubs - including defeats in their past two games against City.

Michael Valkanis' City regained some confidence last week with a 5-1 thumping of Wellington Phoenix and are preparing to attack a wounded Sydney to begin Round 21.

City and Western Sydney Wanderers are the only teams to have beaten Sydney in all competitions in 2016-17, with the former overcoming the Sky Blues 1-0 in November's FFA Cup Final.

The four-goal triumph over the Phoenix was only City's third victory since they lifted the FFA Cup but Bruno Fornaroli and Co. moved into third thanks to that win in Wellington and are looking to build some momentum ahead of the finals.

Valkanis has brought full-back Ivan Franjic back from injury to face Sydney, while Bruce Kamau has also been promoted.

Aaron Calver and George Blackwood have been added to Sydney's extended squad but newly-promoted striker Charles Lokolingoy, who signed his first senior contract this week, has missed out.

City will almost certainly have more of the ball at home - they lead the competition for average possession per game - but statistics show that's a poor barometer for success.

After 100 A-League matches in 2016-17, only 27 have been won by the side with more possession.

Sydney have averaged 48 per cent possession this term to sit seventh in the A-League for that statistic.

ROUTE TO GOAL

Sydney were held scoreless for just the fourth time this season in the derby but it was the second time in three matches.

Arnold is unlikely to be too concerned, however, as the Sky Blues had a couple of penalty shouts turned down against the Wanderers, while Western Sydney goalkeeper Vedran Janjetovic had to make more saves than Sydney counterpart Danny Vukovic.

Captain Alex Brosque is the member of Sydney's front four under the most pressure to find the back of the net as he's goalless in four games.

City have scored in all but one of their A-League matches this term, while they have seven to their name over the past fortnight.

Skipper Bruno Fornaroli remains the Bundoora-based club's leading marksman, with the Uruguayan having converted his 13th goal of the season versus Wellington.

WHO'S BEEN IN THE SPOTLIGHT THIS WEEK?

Graham Arnold. The veteran coach responded calmly and logically to a disgraceful banner aimed at him during the Sydney derby.

FORM LINES

Melbourne City: WLLDW

Sydney FC: WWDWL

PREDICTION

Melbourne City 1-1 Sydney FC

 

Michael Huguenin