Adelaide United will play at Western Sydney Wanderers’ new home, Bankwest Stadium for the first time on Friday night as they aim to strengthen their position in the top four.
Gertjan Verbeek will welcome a couple of players back from injury as the Reds look to build on a sound defensive performance against Central Coast Mariners.
The 2-0 win saw the Reds secure just their third clean sheet in the Hyundai A-League this season.
Jean-Paul de Marigny’s appointment as caretaker boss has coincided with a change of fortune for Western Sydney following the departure of Markus Babbel in late January.
The Wanderers have collected four points from their previous two matches, after losing three straight games prior to him being at the helm.
Verbeek noted the Wanderers’ tactical alterations and discussed that getting pressure on the ball was the main focus of training this week for his players.
“They’ve a new coach so they’ve changed a little bit their strategy,” he told reporters at a press conference at Adelaide Airport.
“And we discussed how we get more pressure on the ball than last game against Central Coast because that was not good.
Defenders assemble! 💪#AUFC #WSWvADLhttps://t.co/sOwyivYRqJ
— Adelaide United (@AdelaideUnited) February 20, 2020
“We trained this week to get more pressure on the ball and for this particular game and it’s important to have a good defence at the back.
“And I was satisfied about the clean sheet from last game and we hope we can improve that a little bit more and still get pressure on the ball and still get a clean sheet.
“I think we’ll get our chances, we have good attackers and we have a good idea about football.”
With the Wanderers situated in eighth spot and seven points adrift of the top six, Verbeek will be anticipating an offensive game with opportunities likely to arrive for both sides.
“It’s always when you have two teams who want to play attacking football, you get a lot of space on the pitch,” he said.
“And then you see a lot of excitement from the game. There will be chances for Western Sydney, there will be chances for us.
“Sometimes you have to defend because the opponent is better but we’ll see tomorrow.”
Young forward, Kusini Yengi, is a chance to make his Reds debut after being included in the travelling squad, while defenders Michael Marrone and Ryan Kitto are also back from respective injuries.
Adelaide United face Western Sydney Wanderers in Round 20 of the Hyundai A-League 2019/20 season on Friday, 21 February at Bankwest Stadium. Kick-off is at 7.00pm ACDT. Live and Exclusive on Fox Sports, Kayo Sports and the My Football Live App.
