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Western United is back in action on Tuesday night, with a big game at the top of the table against Macarthur FC just days after John Aloisi’s side defeated Melbourne City.
Match Details
Macarthur FC vs Western United
Tuesday, February 1
Kick-off: 7:45pm AEDT
Campbelltown Stadium, Leumeah
Broadcast: The match will be broadcast live on Paramount+
Form Guide
Macarthur: WWWWL
Western United: WWLLW
Macarthur quickly shot to the top of the table this season, with a four-match winning streak during which they conceded just one goal.
But Ante Milicic’s side suffered a big defeat in the last match, going down 3-0 to rivals Sydney FC on Boxing Day. Macarthur has not played since after a string of COVID-19 related match postponements.
Western United got back to winning ways on Saturday, with Steven Lustica’s second-half thunderbolt securing a big 1-0 win over Melbourne City.
That ended a run of two straight defeats either side of United’s own break in matches and took United’s win tally to five so far this season, more than any other side in the league.
Three wins in five matches have the Green and Black sitting equal top on the Isuzu UTE A-League ladder while Macarthur sits fifth, though the Bulls have played a league low six matches in total.
Previous Meetings
The two newest A-League Men clubs met three times in Macarthur’s inaugural campaign last season, with the New South Wales gaining slight ascendancy.
United enjoyed one of its best matches of the season in the first meeting between the two, with Spaniard Iker Guarrotxena starring in a 4-1 win at Mars Stadium.
Macarthur bounced back from that result with two 2-1 wins in the remaining two fixtures. Dylan Pierias scored twice against the Bulls last season, and will be hoping to make it a hat-trick on Tuesday night.
Team News
Western United Head Coach John Aloisi reported no new injury or fitness issues in the immediate aftermath of the Macarthur game and should be able to call upon a full complement of players.
With a quick turnaround after a gruelling match at AAMI Park, there is likely to be some changes with the likes of Pierias, Christian Theoharous and Dylan Wenzel-Halls potentially hoping to work their way into the starting XI.
Tomoki Imai will return to the side after serving his suspension against City, and Slovenian midfielder Rene Krhin could be in line for a debut in Green and Black.
Key Stats
- Western United and Central Coast Mariners are the only two A-League Men teams that haven’t drawn a game yet this season.
- Jamie Young extended his clean sheet total to five for the season – two more than any other goalkeeper in the competition.
- With two goals in his last two matches, Steven Lustica has doubled his total Western United goal tally in the space of a week.
