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Western United will travel to its home away from home in Launceston to face Perth Glory in an away match on Sunday, with an unbeaten run to continue and top spot in the A-League Men to protect.
Match Details
Perth Glory vs Western United
Sunday, 27 February
Kick-off: 6:45pm AEDT
UTAS Stadium, Launceston
Broadcast: The match will be broadcast live on Paramount+
Form Guide
Perth Glory: WLDWL
Western United: DWDWW
Western United made it consecutive wins and six matches undefeated in the Isuzu UTE A-League Men with a big 1-0 victory over Sydney FC on Wednesday night.
Steven Lustica netted his fourth goal of the season to earn the side the three points, while Aleksandar Prijovic laid off his fourth assist of the campaign.
United has expertly navigated a tricky spell in the season with tough opponents, short turnarounds and way trips on the agenda over the past month, but John Aloisi’s side has stood up to every challenge and has not lost in over a month.
Perth have had an interrupted season with COVID cases and border difficulties to navigate in Western Australia, but Richard Garcia’s side are now finding their feet playing in Tasmania.
The Glory lost their last match with a narrow 1-0 defeat against Macarthur FC, but wins against Brisbane Roar and Sydney FC in their last five matches have them off the bottom of the table with a number of games in hand on the teams around them.
Previous Meetings
This will be the second meeting between the two sides this season, with Perth the opponents in Western United’s first win of the season way back in Round 2.
Dylan Wenzel-Halls sprung off the bench to score the decisive goal on that occasion, continuing United’s strong head-to-head record against the Glory.
United drew 1-1 with Perth in its first ever home match at GMHBA Stadium in 2019 before winning three of the next four meetings, the second of which was a stunning 5-4 victory in Geelong.
Team News
Aloisi confirmed that everyone that was available for the Sydney match is fit and raring to go again in Tasmania with no new injury issues to deal with.
The medical staff will have to make a decision on Alessandro Diamanti and Connor Pain, though, as both recover from minor knocks.
Rene Krhin played the most minutes of his United career so far on Wednesday and could feature heavily again, while Tomoki Imai is in line for his 50th appearance for the Club in all competitions.
What John Aloisi is saying
On facing the challenges of travelling between now and season’s end
“We look forward to all the challenges thrown in front of us. There’ve been challenges since day one of pre-season and the players have responded to them every time.
“We’ve got no issues with that at all. We adapt really well as a team – we were away in Sydney for a week and we got seven points. The boys are different (compared to last year), we’re in a difference space and a different mindset.”
On the threats that Perth will pose in the match
“They’re a difficult team to play against, they have some really good players. Fornaroli is one we definitely have to keep an eye on – we know how good he is.
“We’re looking forward to it, we’ve analysed them the last few games. It’s not going to be an easy game, we know that – no game in the A-League Men is easy.”
