Adelaide United v Brisbane Roar

Inconsistent Adelaide United remain in sixth place on the ladder following their bore draw with Central Coast last time out and boss Aurelio Vidmar will be hoping that his side can rediscover their cutting edge when they take on struggling Brisbane Roar on Friday.

Although their frontmen continue to misfire, Reds’ goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic has been in fine form once again this term and the twice-capped Socceroo has been rewarded with a four-year contract extension this week. On a less positive note for the South Australians, exciting midfield prospect Matthew Leckie has been ruled out of the Roar clash with a hamstring strain and fellow-midfielder Paul Reid is not expected to recover from his calf injury in time to play.

Ange Postecoglou, meanwhile, will take his side south still searching for his first win since succeeding Frank Farina in the Roar hot seat, although the former television pundit has been boosted with news this week that the FFA are set to pump around $1.4 million into the club in order to safeguard its future.
The Queenslanders will be looking to improve on a miserable record that has seen them win only two of their thirteen A-League meetings with Friday’s opponents and could welcome back wily midfield veteran Charlie Miller if he manages to overcome a nagging groin problem. Henrique, Reinaldo, Michael Zullo, Massimo Murdocca and Liam Reddy, however, all remain sidelined.

Brisbane should be able to match the robust Reds physically and while they may not be able to snatch a maiden A-League victory for their new boss, they look a decent bet to secure a hard-fought away point.

Prediction: Adelaide United 1-1 Brisbane Roar

Melbourne Victory v Central Coast Saturday

Etihad Stadium plays host to an intriguing clash on Saturday as the league’s highest goalscorers, Melbourne Victory, go up against the league’s best defensive side in the form of Central Coast Mariners.

The trip south will certainly not hold any fears for Lawrie McKinna’s side who downed Victory 2-0 in the first game of the season, but they will have to make do without combative midfielder Matt Crowell who was red carded during last week’s stalemate with Adelaide. Fellow midfielder Brian McGlinchey also initially looked set to miss the Melbourne clash when an ankle injury forced him to withdraw at half-time against Adelaide last week, but the New Zealand international has responded well to treatment and is expected to travel.

There is also encouraging news on the injury front for the home side, with Nick Ward, Surat Sukha and Robbie Kruse all close to a return to full fitness, while the club are still awaiting international clearance for Costa Rican import Marvin Angulo.

With six wins in their last seven games, Victory have well and truly put their sluggish start to the season behind them, although boss Ernie Merrick has rejected suggestions that the tussle for the title is already a two-horse race between his side and Sydney FC.

The Mariners may be hard to break down, but in Archie Thompson and Carlos Hernandez, Victory have two of the finest attacking players in the A-League and their quality should be enough to ensure that the home side chalk up another win and keep up the pressure on leaders Sydney FC.

Prediction: Melbourne Victory 2-0 Central Coast Mariners

Gold Coast United v Sydney FC

Off-the-field uncertainty has undoubtedly filtered its way through to the playing staff at Gold Coast United in recent weeks as Miron Bleiberg’s men now look a shadow of the side that carried all before them in the early rounds of the campaign.

And the Queenslanders’ task of getting their season back on track is not made any easier by the fact that league leaders Sydney FC will provide the opposition at Skilled Park on Sunday. At least there may be a larger crowd present to witness what promises to be an entertaining encounter, after United owner Clive Palmer reversed his decision to cap the attendance at Skilled Park and also announced that admission prices have been slashed. Those fans, however, will not get to see exciting Brazilian midfielder Robson in action as he has sustained a serious knee injury and may be sidelined until January.

Sydney’s preparations, meanwhile, have been a lot more low-key, with the main focus on Terry McFlynn and his decision to pen a new deal that will keep him at the club until 2013. Alex Brosque has also been in the news, playing down suggestions that his fine recent form makes him a contender for Pim Verbeek’s World Cup squad. Vitezslav Lavicka does not appear to have any fresh injury concerns to contend with ahead of the trip north and may have the option of including Stephan Keller and Mitchell Prentice, both of whom are close to regaining full fitness.

Will this be the game where the expensively-assembled Gold Coast side rediscover the sparkling early season form that saw them win four of their first five games? Or will they continue their downward spiral when confronted by a Sydney FC outfit bursting with confidence after winning four of their last five outings? Sunday’s clash is shaping up to be the game of the round and is a difficult one to call, so perhaps a high-scoring draw might be the way to go.

Prediction: Gold Coast United 2-2 Sydney FC

Wellington Phoenix v Perth Glory

Wellington Phoenix extended their impressive unbeaten home run to twelve games when they comfortably accounted for Newcastle in midweek and the Kiwi outfit will therefore be confident of overcoming a Perth Glory side who are among the league’s poorest travellers.

On the injury front, Phoenix boss Ricki Herbert is considering in drafting promising teenager James Musa as an injury replacement for Jon McKain who re-aggravated his quadricep injury and is set to be sidelined for at least another month. Reece Crowther may continue to deputise for first-choice goalkeeper Mark Paston who has been battling to overcome a hip injury, while former Glory midfielder Leo Bertos could again have to settle for a place on the bench, despite scoring the winner when the two sides met in Round 2.

Glory will be without Victor Sikora who is still several weeks away from overcoming his hamstring injury, but there has been better news for Mile Sterjovski who has forced his way back into the Socceroos squad for the forthcoming Asian Cup Qualifier against Oman. Sterjovski’s regular strike partner Branko Jelic has recovered from the stomach virus that kept him out of last week’s home defeat at the hands of Melbourne and the Serbian could well come straight back into the side at the expense of Eugene Dadi who failed to impress in a rare first-team start.

Glory will have to defend far more solidly than they have in recent weeks if they are to shut out a Phoenix attack that has rattled home ten goals in the last three games, but there may be a question mark over the home side’s fitness following their midweek exertions against Newcastle.
Wellington deserve favouritism but have blown hot and cold this season and have also shown a worrying tendency to draw games that they should have won.

Glory’s edge in terms of freshness may just enable them to claim a point.

Prediction: Wellington Phoenix 1-1 Perth Glory

Newcastle Jets v North Queensland Fury

Newcastle Jets continued their woeful run of recent form with a heavy defeat in Wellington on Wednesday and will not find the going any easier against an upwardly- mobile North Queensland Fury side brimming with confidence. The Jets did welcome imposing central defender Ljubo Milicevic back against the Phoenix, but he was powerless to stop the home side from chalking up a comfortable win and an increasingly-frustrated Branko Culina may have to go back to the drawing board in order to try and steer the Jets off the foot of the ladder.

Marquee man Fabio Vignaroli should at least provide some extra attacking flair when he returns to the side on Sunday and Adam D’Apuzzo will also be available after serving his suspension. Iraqi winger Ali Abbas could be handed a rare start against a Fury side generally regarded to be vulnerable to pace in wide areas.
Fury, in contrast, have surged up to within striking distance of the top six on the back of consecutive victories over Perth and Gold Coast, despite being without a string of experienced players including Shane Stefanutto, Scott Wilson, Karl Dodd and Robbie Middleby. Utility man Paul Kohler, meanwhile, is keen to make an impression against his former club on Sunday, but will have to settle for a place on the bench if boss Ian Ferguson opts not to change a winning side.

The Jets are in freefall at the moment, while Fury are building up a head of steam after overcoming their teething troubles at the start of the campaign.

This has the makings of a very tight affair, but the visitors’ momentum may just be enough to see them over the line.

Prediction: Newcastle Jets 1-2 North Queensland Fury