Preview: Wellington Phoenix vs. Adelaide United - prediction, team news, lineups

Adelaide United could move to the top of the table when they travel to the Sky Stadium on Sunday to face Wellington Phoenix.

The Reds are third in the league, one point behind league leaders Melbourne City, while the Phoenix occupy ninth position.

Match preview

Wellington Phoenix's winning streak was halted at two games when they were held to a 1-1 draw by 10-man Western United last time out.

Nineteen-year-old forward Ben Waine broke the deadlock after just seven minutes, but the Western Melbourne outfit came back to grab a point thanks to Lachlan Wales's 27th-minute strike.

Seven points from three games have now seen Ufuk Talay's side move up to ninth place in the A-League table, three points shy of the playoff places with four games to go.

Meanwhile, a rejuvenated Adelaide United continued their surge to the top of the table as they came from two goals down to force a share of the spoils against 10-man Sydney FC last Sunday.

The Sky Blues raced to a two-goal lead going into the break, but Jordan Elsey and Tomi Juric scored in the space of four minutes to level the scores in the 79th minute.

The Reds have now picked up seven wins and two draws from their last 10 games and have moved level on points with second-placed Central Coast Mariners.

That run has been largely down to their impressive performances on home turf, where they have claimed 19 points from eight games.

Carl Veart's men will feel confident heading into Sunday's encounter as they are on a six-game unbeaten run at the Sky Stadium, dating back to a 4-2 loss in November 2015.

Team News

Wellington Phoenix will have to cope without the services of defender Luke DeVere, who is ruled out with a knee injury.

He is joined on the injury list by Reno Piscopo, who is weeks away from his scheduled return from the sidelines.

On the other hand, there are no injury boosts in the Adelaide United camp, meaning Veart will still have to make do with a few fringe players.

Veteran defender Michael Jakobsen remains out of contention through a hamstring injury picked up in the 2-1 loss to Central Coast Mariners at the beginning of the month.

Attacking duo Mohamed Toure and Kusini Yengi have also been ruled out with hamstring problems, while Nathan Konstandopoulos is suffering from a knee injury.

Wellington Phoenix possible starting lineup:

Sail; Fenton, Taylor, Payne, Sutton; Davila, Devlin, Lewis, Ball; Sotirio, Waine

Adelaide United possible starting lineup:

Gauci; Strain, Elsey, Timotheou, Cavallo; Caletti, Juande; Halloran, Mauk, Goodwin; Juric

We say: Wellington Phoenix 0-2 Adelaide United

Both sides head into this tie in decent form, but Adelaide have been clearly the better side over the course of the season. We fancy the Reds to claim all three points on Sunday and continue their title challenge.