Western United will play its second Liberty A-League Women match at Morshead Park within five days when it takes on Newcastle Jets on Wednesday evening.
Match Details
Isuzu UTE A-League Women Round 7
Western United vs Newcastle Jets
Wednesday, 8 February
Kick-off: 5:30pm AEDT
Morshead Park, Ballarat
Broadcast: The match will be broadcast live and free on 10Play, and on Paramount+
Team News
Mark Torcaso has named the exact same extended squad that he named on Saturday but could shuffle the pack within the list of 18.
The likes of Adriana Taranto and Kahli Johnson will hope to push themselves into the starting XI after coming off the bench on Saturday.
January Player of the Month nominees Hillary Beall and Hannah Keane will hope to continue their form while Jaclyn Sawicki and Angie Beard will hope to continue increasing their contributions.
Western United squad: 1. Alyssa DALL’OSTE (gk), 4. Jaclyn SAWICKI, 5. Aimee MEDWIN, 7. Francesca IERMANO, 9. Hannah KEANE, 10. Kahli JOHNSON, 11. Emma ROBERS, 13. Danielle STEER, 14. Natasha DAKIC, 15. Adriana TARANTO, 16. Melissa TARANTO, 18. Aleksandra SINCLAIR, 19. Tyla Jay VLAJNIC, 20. Sydney CUMMINGS, 21. Hillary BEALL (gk), 22. Alana CERNE, 23. Angie BEARD, 24. Julia SARDO
Last time out
Western United fell to its second defeat of the season at the weekend with a 3-1 loss to Perth Glory in Ballarat.
READ MORE: ALW Match Report: Western United 1-3 Perth Glory
Emma Robers’ goal had the sides level at 1-1 at half-time but Perth were able to seize control with two goals in the final 20 minutes of the match.
The Opponent
Newcastle Jets have undergone a period of change in the last week with Gary van Egmond coming in as head coach on an interim basis.
His first match was a 3-0 loss to Canberra United at the weekend, a fourth defeat in succession for the Jets.
Newcastle currently sit in 10th place on the table but will still pose a threat to United, particularly in attack with the likes of Sarah Griffith, Tara Andrews and Lauren Allan.
Key Matchup: Sydney Cummings vs Sarah Griffith
After conceding at home for the first time this season, Sydney Cummings and the Western United defence will be eager to bounce back and keep another clean sheet against Newcastle.
Griffith is Newcastle’s joint-top goal scorer alongside with four goals to her name, and she will likely be the biggest threat to the Green and Black’s defence in her last match for the Jets before she returns to the United States.
Cummings continues to enjoy an outstanding run of form at the back and was recently voted as the best centre-back in the league based on Opta metrics.
The Guyana international will need to be at her best to limit Griffith and protect Hillary Beall’s goal as United goes in search of victory.
Player to Watch: Adriana Taranto
Aiming to return to the starting line-up, a fresh Taranto could be ready to make a big impact on this match on Wednesday.
Playing often as United’s most advanced midfielder, the 23-year-old will hope to bring her creativity and eye for goal into the middle of the pitch.
Whether it be from the start or off the bench, Taranto will look to add to her goal tally and drive Western United towards an important three points.
Words from Mark Torcaso
On bouncing back from the defeat on Saturday
“We’ve put it past us. We knew we didn’t play well enough, so we’ve moved on from that and we’re focused on this game.
“Regardless if it’s a win or a loss on the weekend, we always have to worry about the next game, next training session. That’s something we’ve done all season, and it’s no different this week.”
On using the entire squad in a busy week
“We’ve spoken about making sure we get through the whole squad, and we’ve got good enough depth to make sure we play players in and out.
“For us, it’s not about resting players. We know we’ve got every player that’s good enough to play in our squad of 23, so it’s a matter of balancing out who the best team is to play against a certain opponent.”
