Western United will face a tough away trip against Adelaide United with three matches remaining in the Isuzu UTE A-League Men regular season.
Match Details
Isuzu UTE A-League Men Round 24
Adelaide United vs Western United
Sunday, 16 April
Kick-off: 5:00pm AEST
Coopers Stadium, Adelaide
Broadcast: The match will be broadcast live on Paramount+
Team News
John Aloisi will be boosted by two big returns ahead of the trip to Adelaide with Aleksandar Prijovic and James Troisi both in contention to play.
Prijovic missed last week’s match due to illness while Troisi has not played in over a month since suffering a muscle injury against Perth Glory.
Western United squad: 1. Jamie YOUNG (gk), 4. Leo LACROIX, 5. Dylan PIERIAS, 6. Tomoki IMAI, 7. Tongo DOUMBIA, 8. Lachie WALES, 9. Michael RUHS, 10. Steven LUSTICA, 11. Connor PAIN, 14. James TROISI, 17. Ben GARUCCIO, 19. Josh RISDON, 21. Sebastian PASQUALI, 23. Alessandro DIAMANTI (c), 27. Jacob TRATT, 31. Adisu BAYEW, 37. Ryan SCOTT (gk) 38. Noah BOTIC, 44. Nikolai TOPOR-STANLEY, 99. Aleksandar PRIJOVIC
Last time out
Western United fell to a 3-0 defeat against Central Coast Mariners at Mars Stadium in Ballarat last time out.
Despite a positive first half, United went into the break trailing 2-0 and failed to recover after half-time as the Mariners added a third in injury time.
Previous Meetings
Adelaide have had the wood over Western United in recent meetings, claiming the win in each of the last three fixtures between the two sides.
The Green and Black enjoyed strong form against the Reds prior to that with two wins and two draws in the previous four meetings, including a stunning 5-1 win at Coopers Stadium in March 2020.
Key Matchup: Josh Risdon vs Craig Goodwin
Every time these two teams meet, all eyes are on the touchline as Josh Risdon and Craig Goodwin go head to head to drive their teams to victory.
Risdon continues to enjoy arguably his best season at Western United with his leadership and defensive tenacity on top of final third production with two goals and five assists from right back.
Facing up against him on the other side will be Adelaide’s start man who is in the midst of an outstanding period of his career, emerging as one of the Isuzu UTE A-League’s best players and shining for the Socceroos at the World Cup last year.
Goodwin leads the league with 10 assists to go alongside 11 goals, and he will be eager to continue his terrific form as the Reds look to secure a top two finish.
But Risdon will have something to say about it for United and if he can put in one of his trademark displays, he will send the Green and Black a long way towards a crucial win.
Player to Watch: Dylan Pierias
Having started each of the last two games, Dylan Pierias will be hoping to make it three in a row and put in a similar shift as he has done over the last fortnight.
His blistering pace caused Sydney FC persistent problems two weeks ago and he was similarly threatening against Central Coast last time out.
The speedster will hope to make another strong impact down the right flank as United chases a crucial win in the closing weeks of the season.
