Adelaide need Victory’s scalp

It’s two years and five games since Adelaide United last defeated Melbourne Victory, and considering their rivalry this must irritate them like gravel in their gusset. Adelaide’s dry-run against Victory has not gone on so long as to suggest they have an issue with them - in the same way some people have an issue with being buried alive, or with clowns under their beds (though come to think of it, Kevin Muscat would make a great Pennywise for a planned film version of It) - but with the finals approaching and psychological high ground worth seeking it behooves Josep Gombau’s men to get one over Victory. They are the only top-four side Adelaide haven’t beaten this season after a 1-1 draw in October in Adelaide and a 3-2 loss in Melbourne in November. It may be of some comfort to Adelaide that the Victory haven’t won in Adelaide since September 2009 but they should be more concerned with nullifying Victory’s attacking threat (and isn’t Ben Khalfallah in a rich vein of form at the moment?) whilst converting the type of chances they’ve made a habit of spurning this season. A win here should convince Adelaide - lest they are in any doubt, and sometimes I think they are - that they are title contenders. A loss could be a real set back.

Perth to be 9th time lucky

We’re now up to eight; eight games without a win for Perth Glory. A slump in anyone’s calculations, yes, but at the same time a far from catastrophic one given how well-placed they still are. And it’s not as if Perth have been playing like a team that doesn’t know their Arsenal from the Elbasani, or that their confidence is so low that teams are swatting them aside with contempt. As we saw two weeks ago against Victory, and again last week against Wellington, it takes some effort to beat them which is a credit to Kenny Lowe and team. So what’s behind the eight game winless run? It could be that after such a good start Perth have run themselves out. It could also be that Perth are missing Youssouf Hersi, particularly in transition, and that they’re paying the price for the drop in Andy Keogh’s early season form. More likely, however, it is that their rivals, after a slower start, are hitting their straps with the finals in sight and by doing so showing themselves to be slightly superior. It will be fascinating to see how Perth finish the year and they may yet kick again. And it could be that a win against the Central Coast is the only tonic they need.

Graham Arnold’s ticker

The ‘you score four, we’ll score five’ approach to football is one that brings much joy to spectators but it can make a coach feel like someone has a hold of his heart and is squeezing it as if testing, rather over vigorously, the ripeness of an avocado. As much as Graham Arnold was delighted to see Sydney get the three points against Brisbane last week he endured a torrid time on the sidelines as his team threatened to throw away a game they had in their keeping with some comical defending late on. Yes, they’ve been scoring freely since the new year - an amazing haul of 25 goals in their past seven matches in fact - but they’ve also conceded two a game in the same period. Right now that doesn’t seem a problem but finals football is usually cagier and more conservative and goals could be harder to come by, so Sydney need to find a consistent way of shoring up the back without losing too much in attack. With Friday night’s opponent Melbourne City striving still for finals football - and with four goals under their belt in last week’s win over Newcastle - Sydney’s defence will need to redeem itself. If only to spare Arnold’s ticker.

Brisbane’s bounce back

The Brisbane Roar’s excellent five game unbeaten run had to end some time and it did so in bizarre fashion last week when they scored four goals yet still found a way to lose - football’s equivalent of climbing a mountain you think is unconquered only to reach the summit and find empty beer cans and pizza boxes strewn about the place. They are still very much in the finals hunt, however, sitting on 25 points, just two behind behind 6th-placed Melbourne City, and they’ve played two fewer games (19 to City’s 21). Given City play Sydney away on Friday and then Brisbane at home the following week, the make up of the finals could all but be decided in the next fortnight, especially if the Roar - though fatigued from their midweek Champions League excursion - can fashion an upset against high-flying Phoenix at home on Sunday. But that’s easier said than done. With Roy Krishna and Roly Bonevacia slicing and dicing Ernie Merrick’s team are worthy competition leaders, so much so that in a few months Australians might have to face the fact that the best team in the country are not, in fact, in the country.

Wanderers’ focus

They won’t come out and say it but for Western Sydney the A-League is now, at worst, little more than a distraction and, at best, just a means of keeping in nick for the Asian Champions League. After the shock and awe of their first two domestic seasons the Wanderers’ 2014-15 campaign has been a enigma wrapped up in a conundrum placed inside a brown paper bag filled with a dog’s log and set alight on the front porch of the Red and Black Bloc’s HQ. Or something like that. And it’s a season that puzzles even more when you recall that the Wanderers’ Asian Champions League win against Al-Hilal was secured as recently as November 2014. If that win has shown anything it’s that an A-League club will always struggle to fight a war on two fronts (squad size and fixture congestion have been the issue, Tony Popovich said this week) and given the Wanderers are no chance of making the A-League finals what incentive do they have to go above and beyond in their remaining games? On that basis, and the fact the Wanderers fought out a 0-0 draw in against FC Seoul on Wednesday night and picked up more injuries, Newcastle should fancy their chances this week.

Fixtures

Friday

Sydney FC vs Melbourne City, Allianz Stadium, Sydney, 7.40pm

Saturday

Western Sydney Wanderers vs Newcastle Jets, Pirtek Stadium, Parramatta, 5pm

Adelaide United vs Melbourne Victory, Coopers Stadium, Adelaide, 7.30pm

Sunday

Central Coast Mariners vs Perth Glory, Central Coast Stadium, Gosford, 3pm

Brisbane Roar vs Wellington Phoenix, Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, 5pm