The Newsroom previews round five of the A-League.
Brisbane Roar v Melbourne City
Brisbane Roar will be hoping to continue their winning form as they play Melbourne City tonight in their 300th A-League game at Suncorp Stadium. The Roar managed to bounce back from their devastating 4-0 loss to Newcastle Jets two weeks ago, collecting victories against Central Coast Mariners and Perth Glory last week. The Roar’s impressive home form will definitely give them a psychological advantage over their opponents as they have not lost at home in 18 months. Despite Brisbane Roar’s home form, Melbourne City slightly edges the Roar on head-to-head form, winning eight games compared to Brisbane’s seven and have been held to a draw on three occasions. Tim Cahill and defender Michael Jakobsen make their returns to the squad after being left out of last week’s 2-1 win over Adelaide United, while Dimitri Petratos and Roar’s new signing Arana are also in line to start.
Sydney FC v Melbourne Victory
The 34th edition of the Big Blue kicks off on Saturday night as Melbourne Victory travel up to Sydney to continue their dominance over their rivals. In previous seasons, the big V had the upper-hand when the two would clash but with Sydney’s unstoppable form this season, Kevin Muscat’s men face a tough task. The sky blues have gone five league games unbeaten and still are to concede a goal in the process. They’ll certainly be looking to become the first team in the A-League to go six games unbeaten without conceding a goal, a record currently held by their Big Blue rivals. Victory come into this game in top form after they comfortably dismantled Wellington Phoenix last week 6-1, courtesy of a hat-trick from Besart Berisha. Sydney’s back four will have to be able to keep Berisha and Rojas at bay. – Ben Owusu
Other matches:
Wellington Phoenix v Newcastle Jets
Adelaide United v Central Coast Mariners
Perth Glory v Western Sydney Wanderers
Photo of Jamie Maclaren from the Brisbane Roar Twitter feed.
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