Never Surrender: Week 7 A-League Preview | Thebigtip

For anyone unaware, the subtitle is from the Newcastle fans, who were holding signs up with said writing at their last home game against Brisbane.

Before I go on and talk the matches for this weekend – how good are midweek matches? Gives you something to break up the week, and the atmosphere at the games feels a bit more relaxed than normal, which makes it a better viewing experience. Of course, when you go 90 minutes without scoring, then said atmosphere changes just a little bit towards the end, but I digress. Onto the Friday night match.

Newcastle v Perth

Date: Friday 17th September

Time: 8:00pm EST

Location: EnergyAustralia Stadium

Betfair Odds

Newcastle: $2.96

Draw: $3.35

Perth: $2.64

Changes:

Newcastle
 
In: 10.Ruben Zadkovich, 14.Labinot Haliti

Out: 18.Marko Jesic (National Team Duty)

Unavailable: 12.Jobe Wheelhouse (Hamstring / knee), 20.Neil Young (Illness)

Perth

In: 10.Michael Baird (returns from a two game suspension)

Out: 12.Scott Neville (National Team Duty)

Unavailable: Victor Sikora (hip – 2 weeks), Chris Coyne (on loan -9 weeks), Andrija Jukic (hip-2 weeks)

Overview

After all the media during the week focusing on the plight of Newcastle, I hope that their supporters come out in force for the game. Crowds of 8,735 and 7,066 for their first two home games are respectable enough, but somehow they need to find another 3 to 4 thousand fans from somewhere so they can break even on the stadium deal. How Constantine got himself into a situation where he needs 12,000 people to break even in an area such as the Hunter Valley I’ll never know.

Newcastle has been toothless up front the whole season, even though they’re taking a lot of shots per game. Case in point is Jesic, who’s had 21 shots for a grand total of zero goals. He’s out on Young Socceroos duty, so he’ll be missing for the game. Surely that means the return of Haliti back into the starting XI. I’m not sure exactly what Haliti has done to lose his starting spot, as he was pretty good towards the back end of last season, so hopefully he gets the nod over the other strikers vying for Jesic’s starting spot.

As for Perth, they looked like they could have played for a week against Gold Coast and still not scored, they were that flat. Last time they looked flat was against the Heart, and they came out the next week to play Wellington off the park in the first 60 minutes. That was at home though, so travelling to Newcastle after a bad performance is slightly different.

Perth will be missing Neville, who’s also on Young Socceroos duty, which most likely means that Jamie Coyne will move to right back, leaving Todd to start and partner Harnwell in the centre of defence. I’m hoping that Perth aren’t relying on Coyne to give them any sort of attacking quality down their right, because if they do they’ll be in for a long night.

I remember when Perth travelled to Newcastle last season on a Friday night, and it was one of the least attacking games I’d seen in a long time. The ball seemed to be trapped in the middle third – if that happens again tomorrow night I’ll be disappointed given what’s at stake for Newcastle. But, even though I don’t want that to happen, I still think there’ll be very few goals, if any. That’s why I’m tipping the scoreless draw.

Tip: Draw (0-0)

North Queensland v Melbourne Victory

Date: Saturday 18th September

Time: 5:15pm EST

Location: Dairy Farmers Stadium

Betfair Odds

North Queensland: $2.30

Draw: $3.05

Victory: $1.74

Changes:

North Queensland

In: 28. Sebastian Usai (gk) (short term loan signing)

Out: 10. Dyron Daal (hamstring – 1 week), 15. Chris Payne (National Team Duty), 19. Isaka Cernak (National Team Duty)

Unavailable: 13. Andre Kilian (foot injury, 1-2 weeks), 20. Matthew Ham (knee – 4 weeks)

Victory

In: Luke Pilkington (promoted)

Out: Mate Dugandzic (National Team Duty), Diogo Ferreira (National Team Duty), Matthew Foschini (National Team Duty).

Unavailable: Archie Thompson (knee), Matthew Kemp (knee), Kevin Muscat (foot 4 – 6 weeks), Robbie Kruse (calf 1 – 2 weeks)

Overview

From the minute these two teams finished their 2-2 draw at AAMI Park a few weeks ago, I had been eagerly anticipating this match. Of course, then Muscat had to go down with an ankle injury against Brisbane and ruin all my fun. There could have actually been fisticuffs between Muscat and Akoto if there was another incompetent referee.

Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen which disappoints me just a little bit to be honest. It does mean that there will be a normal back four for the second time in a row against the Fury, which is odd to watch after being conditioned with three centre backs running around at once. I would assume Sukha will move over to the right with Berger taking residence on the left with the absence of Ferreira on Young Socceroos duty. More importantly, Pilko is on the bench! I think he’s got some promise, so it’s good to see him into the squad.

Initially I thought that the Fury should start favourites for the game, but that was before I saw their changes. Missing Daal, Payne and Cernak is a big blow to them, as you’d think all three would have played a big role in the game if they were available. It’ll leave them a little threadbare up front, and I assume they’ll be relying on Ssepuya a lot more than normal. They’ll be hoping that he doesn’t conjure up a miss similar to his effort against the Heart before the bye, because producing two efforts like that in successive games could lead to a spot straight on the bench when everyone returns.

When I look at how the Victory played on Wednesday, I can’t see them suddenly turning around their efforts on goal while playing their third game in six days. Combine that with the players the Fury are missing, and it seems destined for a draw. But, for some reason I’ve managed to convince myself the Fury are winning (and I don’t know how), so I guess that’s who I’m tipping.

Tip: North Queensland (2-0)