Defending champions Sydney FC will aim to make it three straight wins when they travel to the GMHBA Stadium to take on Western United on Saturday.
The hosts will be aiming to kick-start their season as they find themselves 10th in the A-League table after a disappointing run of one win in five matches.
Match preview
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Western United will be looking to get up and running when they return to Geelong on Saturday, after a poor start to the 2020-21 A-League campaign.
Mark Rudan's men have picked up just five points from a possible 15 and are currently seated 10th in the league table with two draws and two defeats.
In a disappointing performance, the hosts blew the lead twice to fall to a 3-2 defeat against Central Coast Mariners last time out.
On the other hand, the visitors continue their push for a third-straight A-League success after an impressive start to the new campaign.
After a 2-1 victory over Wellington in their league opener, the Sky Blues stumbled to a draw against Western Sydney Wanderers before suffering a 2-0 defeat to Central Coast Mariners
However, Steve Corica's men quickly bounced back from the defeat to the league leaders to grab back-to-back victories against Macarthur and Wellington Phoenix.
In the clash against Wellington last time out, a brace from New Zealand international Kosta Barbarouses inspired Sydney to a 2-1 victory which saw them move up to fifth in the league table.
Western United and Sydney have only ever met twice, when both sides shared the spoils with a win each in the two meetings last season.
Two first-half goals from Adam Le Fondre gifted the visitors a 2-0 win in the first fixture, while Rudan's men grabbed a 2-1 victory at the Leichhardt Oval Stadium in the most recent meeting.
This is the fifth time Rudan and Corica will be going head to head in their coaching careers, with the latter having a slight advantage after picking up three victories compared to Rudan's two.
Western United have a decent record on home turf this season as they are unbeaten with one win and two draws, while Sydney have won both of their away games so far.
Western United Australian A-League form: LDWLD
Sydney FC Australian A-League form: WWLDW
Team News
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Western United will be boosted by the return of Max Burgess, who is expected to make the starting XI following an extended holiday.
Mark Rudan will still be without the services of midfielder Joshua Risdon, who remains sidelined with a broken tibia, while Seb Pasquali will also miss out through injury.
Sydney, meanwhile, have a relatively long injury list coming into this fixture.
Australian-born midfielder Chris Zuvela is a doubt after picking up an injury last time out, while goalkeeper Adam Pavlesic remains on the sidelines after a heavy knock in the AFC Champions League back in December.
Harry Van der Saag is also on the visitors' injury list with an ankle problem, but full-back Michael Zullo is expected to return to the fold after recovering from a calf injury.
Western United possible starting lineup:
Kurto; Calver, Durante, Vujica; Uskok, Sanchez, Lustica, Imai; Burgess, Diamanti, Berisha
Sydney FC possible starting lineup:
Redmayne; King, Warland, Wilkinson, Grant; Brattan, Baumjohann, Ninkovic, Caceres; Barbarouses, Buhagiar
We say: Western United 1-3 Sydney FC
Western United have failed to get into gear this season, and they face a Sydney side who appear to have found their rhythm.
The defending champions have been faultless away from home and, considering they have a stronger squad, they should grab all three points unscathed.
Top betting tip
Joshua Ojele
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 47.76%. A win for Western United had a probability of 29.38% and a draw had a probability of 22.9%.
The most likely scoreline for a Sydney FC win was 1-2 with a probability of 9.3%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (7.4%) and 0-2 (6.72%). The likeliest Western United win was 2-1 (7.09%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10.24%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 7.4% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Sydney FC would win this match.
