We hit the road as we travel to South Australia to take on Adelaide United on Saturday. See the five things we’re looking forward to ahead of the clash.
The Feb Derby is fast approaching, don’t miss out!
Olyroos are back!
After being away on international duty for the whole of January, City will this weekend welcome Tom Glover, Connor Metcalfe, Ramy Najjarine and Denis Genreau back into the squad.
The Olyroos won their third-place play-off against Uzbekistan to secure a place in the Tokyo Olympics later this year.
Glover was the first-choice goalkeeper and played every minute of all six games, while Najjarine made four appearances and scored a goal, Genreau made three appearances and Metcalfe made two.
Another clean sheet?
After having kept just two clean sheets in the first 13 games, City has been able to keep back-to-back clean sheets over the past fortnight.
New signing Jack Hendry played all 90 minutes last week in his first appearance for his new team. Hendry took his place at centre-back to form a partnership with Curtis Good, pushing Harrison Delbridge to right back while Scott Jamieson as per usual was the left full back.
This was one of City’s strongest defensive performances of the season and ended Perth’s six game winning streak. Erick Mombaerts will face a tough decision this week with Glover, who had been the first-choice keeper before he left returning to the squad, just after Dean Bouzanis has kept two clean sheets in a row, keeping a healthy competition for places.
Cup final redemption
City last squared off against Adelaide in October in the FFA Cup Final but it was a day to forget with the Reds the ones lifting the trophy on the night after a comfortable 4-0 win.
This Saturday’s fixture will be held at Hindmarsh Stadium, the same venue as the cup match and also last year’s elimination final loss, so this weekend will provide the perfect chance to put in a better performance and exorcise the demons of the last two visits to the venue.
Squad depth
Erick Mombaerts will have almost a full squad to pick from for the trip to Adelaide.
With the clubs Olyroos representatives returning, Richard Windbichler is the only player unavailable as the Austrian centre-back continues to rehab his hamstring injury. With the Y-League team finishing its season with back-to-back wins, there are plenty of players pushing their case for selection in this weekend’s fixture.
Starting February off on the right note
After not losing in January, City will be looking to keep that form going into February and start it off with a win against the Reds on Saturday.
With a bye coming up in a few weeks’ time, City will play just three games this month. We return home next Friday night to host Victory in the last derby of the season with tickets still available here!
Following the derby, we will be back on the road to take on the Wellington Phoenix in Auckland.
