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Sydney FC
Australian A-League | Gameweek 8
Jan 16, 2021 at 6.05am UK
Sydney Football Stadium
Western Sydney Wanderers

Sydney FC
1 - 1
Western Sydney

Barbarouses (63' pen.)
Brattan (71')
FT(HT: 0-0)
Troisi (68')
Mourdoukoutas (7'), McGowan (41')

Preview: Sydney FC vs. Western Sydney Wanderers - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Saturday's Australian A-League clash between Sydney FC and Western Sydney Wanderers, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Sydney FC host city rivals Western Sydney Wanderers on Saturday morning as the current champions look to make it two wins from two in the new campaign.

Western Sydney Wanderers will themselves be looking to record consecutive victories after a 2-1 victory over Newcastle Jets last time out.


Match preview

Sydney FC players pictured in November 2020© Reuters

Steve Corica's side defeated Melbourne City in the Grand Final last season to record their fifth A-League title and become the most successful team in the competition's history.

The Sky Blues made minimal changes to their squad over the off-season, deciding instead to promote several youth-team stars to the senior playing squad.

One major departure, however, was former Reading and Cardiff City striker Adam Le Fondre. The Englishman was a talismanic figure for Sydney, and Corica's men will have to find a new source of goals if they are to retain their crown this time around.

The Sydney derby is one of the most highly-anticipated fixtures in the Australian top flight and one that Sydney FC usually comes out on top in.

Having said that, Corica's men are winless in the last four encounters with their local rivals and will be keen to exact some revenge at the weekend.

Carl Robinson, now in charge of Western Sydney Wanderers, pictured in 2017© Reuters

The Wanderers bounced back from their opening-day defeat at the hands of Macarthur to pick up their first three points of the season against Newcastle Jets in their previous fixture.

Head coach Carl Robinson left the Jets in the summer to take over at the Bankwest Stadium and oversaw a raft of changes with seven new faces arriving and 13 departing.

Graham Dorrans, the former Rangers and Norwich City midfielder, was the biggest name of those to arrive in Southern Australia, and the former Scotland international already has one goal from his first three appearances.

Western Sydney Wanderers finished a lowly ninth in 2019-20, missing out on the final series, however, the arrival of Robinson and the many new faces will have them hoping for a top-six finish, and a win away to their local rivals would be a huge statement of intent.

Sydney FC Australian A-League form: W
Sydney FC form (all competitions): LDLWDW

Western Sydney Wanderers Australian A-League form: LW


Team News

Sydney FC head coach Steve Corica pictured in December 2020© Reuters

Goalkeeper Adam Pavlesic was involved in a heavy clash in the AFC Champions League in December and is unavailable for Saturday's encounter.

Trent Buhagiar and Anthony Caceres are the main threats for Sydney, and the reigning champions will be hoping the pair can inspire them to victory.

Robinson has a fully-fit squad to choose from and will want to put out his strongest possible XI on Saturday.

His side put in a much-improved performance last time out and will be demanding much of the same against Sydney.

Sydney FC possible starting lineup:
Heward-Belle; King, Warland, Wilkinson, Grant; Brattan, Baumjohann, Ninkovic, Caceres; Barbarouses, Buhagiar

Western Sydney Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Margush; McGowan, Mourdoukoutas, Gordon; Georgievski, Dorrans, Baccus, Russell; Troisi, Ibini-Isei, Cox


SM words green background

We say: Sydney FC 2-1 Western Sydney Wanderers

The hosts have the superior squad and will be confident coming into this one, but in a derby, anything can happen. The Wanderers have a good recent record in this fixture and will fancy their chances of causing an upset, although Corica's men should have just too much for them on this occasion.


Top betting tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting under 3.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Under 3.5:data



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Written by
George Cannon

Data Analysis

Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Sydney FC win with a probability of 37.79%. A win for Western Sydney Wanderers had a probability of 37.18% and a draw had a probability of 25%.

The most likely scoreline for a Sydney FC win was 2-1 with a probability of 8.41%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (8.28%) and 2-0 (5.93%). The likeliest Western Sydney Wanderers win was 1-2 (8.33%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.74%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with an 11.7% likelihood.


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Game History

How you voted: Sydney FC vs Western Sydney

Sydney FC
79.3%
Draw
13.8%
Western Sydney Wanderers
6.9%
29
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Anthony Caceres of the Mariners celebrates after scoring a goal during the round 27 A-League match between Brisbane Roar and the Central Coast Mariners at Suncorp Stadium on April 12, 2014
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