Western United will look to continues its solid Isuzu UTE A-League Men form with an away trip in Round 20 to take on Western Sydney Wanderers.
Match Details
Isuzu UTE A-League Men Round 20
Western Sydney Wanderers vs Western United
Friday, 8 March
Kick-off: 7:45pm AEDT
CommBank Stadium, Parramatta
Broadcast: The match will be broadcast live on Paramount+
Western United Team News
Lachie Wales will etch his name further into the Western United history books, becoming the third player to reach 100 Isuzu UTE A-League appearances in the Green and Black.
After Tomoki Imai reached the milestone three weeks ago, Wales will join him and Connor Pain as the only members of the Western United 100-club.
Centre-back James Donachie will make his return from suspension having served a three-match ban after his red card against Newcastle Jets.
Donachie’s inclusion marks the first time that United’s first choice back four from pre-season will be available together in the league this season.
Noah Botic will miss the clash after his injury was announced this week and Rhys Bozinovski will also come out of the side, with Western United Academy products Jake Najdovski, Luke Vickery and Jordan Lauton all vying for minutes.
Western United squad: 4. James DONACHIE, 6. Tomoki IMAI, 8. Lachie WALES, 9. Michael RUHS, 10. Steven LUSTICA, 11. Daniel PENHA, 13. Nikita RUKAVYTSYA, 17. Ben GARUCCIO, 19. Josh RISDON, 21. Sebastian PASQUALI, 22. Kane VIDMAR, 32. Angus THURGATE, 33. Matt SUTTON (gk), 37. Luke VICKERY, 39. Matthew GRIMALDI, 43. Khoder KADDOUR, 44. Jordan LAUTON, 49. Jake NAJDOVSKI, 70. Michael VONJA (gk), 77. Riku DANZAKI
Last time out
Western United picked up its second win in four games last time out, defeating Perth Glory 1-0 at Mars Stadium in Ballarat.
Watch the highlights from United’s victory over Perth Glory last week
While the scoreline may not suggest it, United cruised through the majority of the game and won it with Botic’s early second-half strike.
Previous Meetings
Western United and Western Sydney Wanderers has typically been a match-up defined by distinct runs of form for each side.
United went unbeaten through the first three meetings, lost the next two, won the next three and the Wanderers are now on a three-game winning run against the Green and Black.
John Aloisi will be hoping that Friday night begins a new run of results for Western United, with this set to be the 11th time the two teams have faced off.
Key Matchup: Daniel Penha vs Marcelo
Two of the Isuzu UTE A-League’s finest international stars will lock horns in this one as Brazilian duo Daniel Penha and Marcelo look to guide their respective teams to victory.
Penha has been reaching league-leading form over the past number of weeks and made a prompt return from injury, missing only the 2-2 draw against Brisbane Roar two weeks ago.
With five goals now to his name this season, Penha’s appetite in the final third is insatiable and he will no doubt be on the lookout for more to add to his tally.
The chance creation and quality in possession make him a vital cog in United’s build-up play as well, but he will have to be at his mesmeric best against his compatriot on Friday.
One of the most physically imposing players in the competition, Marcelo is a wall at the back for Western Sydney and is also a serious threat on attacking set pieces.
Penha will be looking to get the better of his fellow Brazilian and help push United to victory after two previous defeats to the Wanderers this season.
Western United Player to Watch: Lachie Wales
On his 100th league appearance for the Club, Wales will be eager to step into the spotlight and cap off his milestone moment with three points.
Remaining a constant fixture in Aloisi’s side, the No.8 continues to excel in a number of positions having featured through the middle or on either wing this season.
The right-hand side is where Wales typically does his best work and where he has been playing most of late, using his pace and skill to beat defenders and get balls into the box.
Wales’ relationship with Josh Risdon behind him and Penha inside of him has been on show throughout the season, with that trio constantly linking up to create chances for the team.
That has coincided with an upturn in form for Western United with Wales at the forefront of the positivity, and he will be eager to maintain his high levels again on Friday night.
Words from John Aloisi
On the confidence that a win against Newcastle Jets last time out has given the team
“We’re confident. We’ve spoken about this at length, we felt like we’d bene playing well the majority of the season but without the results. Now of late, the results have been coming which has been good.
“The boys deserve it, they deserve the results to go our way when we’re performing well. We could have put Newcastle away a bit earlier, but in the end we had to hold on and sometimes that can also be a good thing, because we hadn’t held on in the previous two games to get the points.”
On the learnings from the heavy defeat at CommBank Stadium in Round 2
“We’ll just make sure that we keep playing the football that we’ve been playing as of late and making sure that we’re up for it – and we will be.
“We need to make sure we’re ready from the start of the game, because they scored those goals (in Round 2) quite early on, and then it ended up that every time they attacked it looked like they were going to score.
“We played them recently in Tasmania, and we ended up losing 1-0 but we dominated the game and created good chances. We just have to make sure that we take our chances this time and that we play the football that we’ve been playing.”
