Sydney FC will be looking to end a four-match winless run on Wednesday, when they welcome Western United to the Netstrata Jubilee Stadium.
That run of form has seen the defending champions drop to eighth in the A-League table, while two recent victories for the visitors have lifted them up to ninth spot, just a point behind Wednesday's opponents.
Match preview
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The A-League champions have failed to replicate last season's heroics so far this campaign, having won just three of their nine league games.
Last time out, Steve Corica's men travelled north to take on Brisbane Roar, when Dylan Wenzel-Halls gave the hosts an early lead before Bobo netted a second-half equaliser to seal a point for Sydney.
Before that, Corica's side fell to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of A-League newcomers Macarthur, as Matt Derbyshire netted the only goal of the game.
Despite their low league position, Sydney still boast the league's strongest defensive record, with no side in Australia's top flight conceding as few as the 10 league goals they have shipped this campaign.
The problem for Corica's side comes in attack, as only the division's bottom two sides have scored fewer goals than the 11 they have netted from nine league games.
The Sky Blues will be looking to put an end to their recent run of form, which has seen them collect just two points from their last four games, as they hope to move back up the table and gain ground on the top sides.
They take on a Western United side who have reason to be positive, having recorded two recent wins to move them up to ninth spot.
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However, they did suffer a defeat last time out, falling to a 1-0 loss at the hands of Western Sydney Wanderers with Jordon Mutch netting the only goal of the match.
That followed two eye-catching victories for Mark Rudan's side, most recently securing a 4-3 win in a dramatic encounter away at Melbourne Victory.
The hosts led through Callum McManaman, but a Victor Sanchez goal and a Besart Berisha brace turned the game around and put Western United 3-1 up in the second half.
The game then took another twist as the side from Melbourne pulled the game back to 3-3 thanks to goals from Jacob Butterfield and Rudy Gestede, before Sanchez popped up with the winning goal in the fifth minute of added time to secure all three points for Rudan's men.
Before that, the side from Western Melbourne again netted four goals, as they were fired to a 4-1 victory over second-placed Macarthur through goals from Iker Guarrotxena and Dylan Pierias as well as another Berisha brace.
Rudan's men will be looking to return to winning ways on Wednesday, as they hope to continue to move away from the bottom end of the A-League table.
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Team News
Sydney FC are expected to remain without several players through injury, as centre-midfielder Chris Zuvela and attacker Trent Buhagiar continue their spells on the sidelines.
They are joined by Michael Zullo, who has not featured since coming off the bench in the first game of the season through injury.
However, they will welcome Paulo Retre back to the side, after the midfielder served a suspension last time out for a red card shown in the defeat to Macarthur.
Bobo will be looking for a starting spot in this game, after he scored the equaliser off the bench against Brisbane Roar.
Western United goalkeeper Filip Kurto was forced off through injury 30 minutes into the game against Western Sydney Wanderers last time out, and Ryan Scott will start in his absence on Wednesday.
However, they will be boosted by the return of centre-back Tomislav Uskok, who served a suspension last time out for a red card shown in the win over Melbourne Victory.
Victor Sanchez will also return to action on Wednesday, after he served a suspension for picking up his fifth yellow card of the season.
Besart Berisha will lead the line again here, having netted five goals in his last four appearances.
Sydney FC possible starting lineup:
Redmayne; Grant, McGowan, Wilkinson, King; Caceres, Brattan, Retre, Ninkovic; Wood, Bobo
Western United possible starting lineup:
Scott; Imai, Uskok, Calver; Pierias, Lustica, Sanchez, Pain; Diamanti, Berisha, Guarrotxena
We say: Sydney FC 1-1 Western United
Despite Western United's recent goalscoring form, games involving Sydney FC often result in few goals, and we see that continuing with a low-scoring draw on Wednesday.
Sydney will be hoping to correct some poor recent results, but we do not expect this to be the game which sees them return to winning ways, as they take on a resilient side who will be desperate for a result of their own.
Top tip
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 39.39%. A win for Western United had a probability of 36.23% and a draw had a probability of 24.4%.
The most likely scoreline for a Sydney FC win was 2-1 with a probability of 8.6%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (7.75%) and 2-0 (5.91%). The likeliest Western United win was 1-2 (8.19%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.26%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with a 5.9% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Sydney FC would win this match.
