Melbourne Heart FC will look to paint the New Year Red and White when the Hyundai A-League’s form side faces Adelaide United at AAMI Park this afternoon.
Melbourne Heart FC v Adelaide United
Wednesday 4 January
AAMI Park, Melbourne
Kick-Off: 3:15pm
Melbourne Heart FC will look to paint the New Year Red and White when the Hyundai A-League-s form side faces Adelaide United at AAMI Park this afternoon.
Following last week-s 4-0 triumph in Sydney, Heart has moved within three points of league leaders the Central Coast Mariners, placing the Club well in contention for a top two berth as the competition moves past the halfway mark.
Adelaide though are sure to provide a stern test, with John Kosmina-s arrival at Hindmarsh Stadium revitalising United over the last fortnight, catapulting the team back into the race for a place in the Hyundai A-League Finals Series.
Socceroo striker Bruce Djite appears to be entering a rich vein of form, while creative midfielder Dario Vidosic has made rapid strides since returning from a back injury.
With Heart and Adelaide-s last meeting in October yielding a 1-1 draw, the teams were proven to be evenly matched, setting the stage for a hard-fought encounter at AAMI Park.
Recent Results
4 November 2011 – Adelaide United 1 Melbourne Heart FC 1 @ Hindmarsh Stadium
17 December 2010 – Adelaide United 1 Melbourne Heart FC 2 @ Hindmarsh Stadium
19 November 2010 – Melbourne Heart FC 0 Adelaide United 2 @ AAMI Park
Danger Man
Bruce Djite – Fresh from netting a goal during last week-s 2-0 win over Wellington Phoenix at Hindmarsh Stadium, Djite-s season has appeared to turn the corner. And given the centre forward-s class, he-s likely to simply build on that performance as the season reaches its crescendo.
Fact of the Week
Adelaide United hasn-t lost a game in Melbourne in 429 matches.
Squads
Melbourne Heart FC: 1.Clint Bolton (GK), 2.Michael Marrone, 3.Brendan Hamill, 4. Simon Colosimo, 6.Matt Thompson, 7.Rutger Worm, 11.Alex Terra, 15.David Williams, 16.Aziz Behich, 17.Jason Hoffman, 18.Curtis Good, 19.Eli Babalj, 23.Mate Dugandzic, 25.Adrian Madaschi, 30.Sebastian Mattei (GK)
Adelaide United squad: 1.Eugene Galekovic (gk) (c), 2.Osama Malik, 3.Nigel Boogaard, 5.Daniel Mullen, 7.Zenon Caravella, 9.Sergio van Dijk, 10.Dario Vidosic, 11.Bruce Djite, 12.Antony Golec, 14.Cameron Watson, 17.Iain Ramsay, 18.Fabian Barbiero, 20.Mark Birighitti (gk), 21.Francisco Usucar
