Melbourne City travel west looking to close the gap on Brisbane Roar at the top of the table with a win against the Glory, who are looking to stay in touch with the top six. We look at the major talking points surrounding this fixture.
Andy Keogh to get off the mark?
The Irish striker left Perth in somewhat tumultuous circumstances at the close of last season, but after a slow start to the campaign for the West Australians Kenny Lowe has the 29-year-old back down under. Although his return to the side last weekend wasn’t ideal, with Keogh being somewhat disjointed from the game, his connection with teammates will have been strengthened by the match. Given his incredible haul for Glory last campaign and his tenacious attitude, goals will certainly come, and against a City side whose defence is their biggest weakness Perth fans could see the striker bag a maiden goal this season.
City’s nib Stadium woes
While hosting Melbourne City might have other teams on edge, Glory will be comforted with the knowledge history is on their side. Not only have City failed to upset Perth in their last five encounters at nib Stadium, but they’ve also left WA without netting a goal in four of those clashes. Given the side’s prolific scoring capabilities, and Perth’s frail confidence, it would seem as though now is as good a time as ever for the Victorian’s to end their hoodoo. But as John van ‘t Schip will know, theory and practice are two very different things, and a trip to Western Australia is never easy.
How will Glory’s defence deal with Bruno Fornaroli?
With defensive inconsistencies again being Melbourne City’s weakness this campaign, their success so far has been built off of a swift, classy and confident attack; and at the forefront of this is Uruguayan Fornaroli. With 12 goals in his 14 A-League appearances the 29-year-old is certainly a force to be reckoned with – particularly given his strength, and fantastic footballing mind, which will have Perth’s backline in for a tough 90 minutes. That said, Melbourne’s attack is in no way one-sided. Should the Glory’s easily flustered defence successfully close down ‘El Tuna’ they’ll have the likes of Harry Novillo and midfield maestro Aaron Mooy deal with.
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