Western United will be out to make it three wins on the bounce when Brisbane Roar arrive at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday night.
Match Details
Western United vs Brisbane Roar
Saturday, 11 December
Kick-off: 5:05pm AEDT
GMHBA Stadium, Geelong
Broadcast: The match will be shown live on Paramount+
United is coming off the back of an impressive 1-0 win against Melbourne City in the last A-League Men match, but bowed out of the FFA Cup in midweek after a young side lost 1-0 to Wellington Phoenix.
That score line has been a trend for the Green and Black so far this season with the Round 2 win over Perth Glory and opening day defeat against Melbourne Victory also producing 1-0 results.
Brisbane are yet to win through the first three matches of the season but have been unfortunate in almost every instance.
Warren Moon’s side narrowly went down to Melbourne City in the season’s curtain-raiser, before a loss to Victory and a hotly contested 0-0 draw against Adelaide United.
Previous Meetings
Previous meetings between the two sides have been fiery and always entertaining, with a number of memorable encounters across United’s first two seasons in the competition.
In both campaigns, United and Brisbane have traded wins across the two home and away matches, and on both occasions United won the first meeting.
The Green and Black holds the tie-breaker in the head-to-head with a famous Elimination Final victory in 2020, with Alessandro Diamanti’s spectacular free-kick earning the Club’s first finals win.
Team News
Western United Head Coach John Aloisi is expected to make plenty of changes from the FFA Cup fixture in midweek, with the side taking a more familiar shape from previous A-League Men matches.
If called upon again, vice-captain Josh Risdon will make his 200th appearance in the A-League Men competition, a fine achievement and testament to his quality and consistency at a high level.
Aleksandar Prijovic will remain out of action for at least this weekend but is nearing a return, while Sebastian Pasquali continues to work his way to a return in the longer-term future.
What John Aloisi is saying
On Risdon’s milestone achievement
“I’ve been really impressed with his pre-season overall. He was out for most of last season, and I know how hard that is. But he’s worked really well in pre-season, now he’s starting to get his games in and we know he can give more, and he will give more.
“200 games – I didn’t know that. But that’s a good number for him. Not only now is he a good player, he’s starting to be a good leader, setting examples on and off the pitch which is great.”
On the challenges that Brisbane pose
“Tough game. They’re a side that can cause you problems. You saw in Round 1 against Melbourne City, they were unlucky not to get something out of that game, last week against Adelaide it was also pretty even.
“They’re a team that can defend deep but can also press you, and they’ve got good players going forwards. They always get bodies in the box, so we’re going to have to be at our best if we’re going to get anything out of the game.”
