Match Preview: Perth Glory vs Western United
Western United look to return within touching distance of the top six with an away clash against Perth Glory on Wednesday night.
Match Details
Wednesday, 12 May
Kick-off: 9:20pm AEST (7:20pm AWST)
HBF Park, Perth
Broadcast: The match will be broadcast live on Fox Sports 505, Kayo and the MyFootball Live app.
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Social Media: Follow Western United on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and join the conversation by using the hashtags #PERvWUN #WUFC
Form guide
Western United: DWDLL
Perth Glory: DLDLW
Western United suffered consecutive defeats for the first time since the beginning of March with a tough losses on the road against Western Sydney Wanderers on Saturday and Brisbane Roar the previous Wednesday.
Prior to that, United had only lost once in a run of seven games that included four wins.
Both sides come into this clash with identical points hauls in their last five games courtesy of Perth’s 2-1 win against Melbourne Victory on Sunday.
That win was just the second in 13 games for the Glory as the side has slipped further away from finals contention.
Richard Garcia’s men are currently halfway through a spell of eight home games in a row, but have only won four of its previous nine fixtures at HBF Park this season.
Previous meetings
Western United has a fantastic record against Perth, unbeaten in three games with two wins since the club’s inception.
The pick of the bunch was the last meeting, with Steven Lustica’s 84th minutes strike securing a 5-4 win after a staggering eight-goal second half from both teams.
United also picked up a 2-0 win against the Glory in August 2020, with Besart Berisha netting both goals.
What Mark Rudan is saying
On bouncing back from defeat
“We’re going to move on very quickly. I felt for them, but we’ve got to move on because we’re very much in the race.
“The intention and the expectation is to win the game on Wednesday. We still believe we can finish top two, top four.”
On giving the players a day off
“When you’re around your family, your friends and your loved ones you don’t think too much about what happened, nor do you think too much about the next game.
“I want them to be in a relaxed state of mind. Right now, at this point in the season, it’s important that they freshen up mentally more so than physically.”
Stats of the Week
- This is the first time Western United will have travelled to Perth to play the Glory at home after the two club’s played each other in the Sydney-based hub in 2020
- Western United average three goals per game against Perth Glory
- Alessandro Diamanti has created 14 big chances in 2020/21, just one shy of league leader Craig Noone
- Perth Glory boast the best shooting accuracy (52%) of any team in the A-League this season, three percentage points higher than Western United
