Adelaide United face Brisbane Roar at Dolphin Stadium on Saturday night, hoping to establish some early season momentum.
Carl Veart’s side have won five of their previous six meetings against the Roar, but their quest to continue that impressive form will be made difficult by the absence of key personnel.
The Reds responded from its subpar display against Perth Glory with a 1-0 Original Rivalry win against Melbourne Victory last weekend to lie equal second on the table.
After an opening round defeat, Brisbane have rebounded with successive triumphs against Victory and Newcastle Jets respectively.
Veart on establishing momentum…
We’re still building and we want to build that momentum and keep getting wins and clean sheets. That’s what we’re looking forward to this week. We’ve got Brisbane Roar tomorrow night and we’re looking for three points and a clean sheet.
Veart on Mohamed Toure leading the line…
He showed last week how strong and how powerful he is. I think he’s really looking forward to getting on the goal-scoring sheet.
Veart on avoiding another slow start away from home…
We’ve spoken with the playing group about that and they all felt fine going into the Perth game. Whether it was just the way we started the game and they sort of got off on the wrong foot and that sort of snowballed from there. That’s why we started like we did last week against Melbourne Victory and it’s going to be important that we start very similar against Brisbane Roar this week.
Team news
Captain Stefan Mauk has overcome a calf issue and is available for selection, while Al Hassan Toure has been called-up for the first time this season following a lengthy injury lay-off with Veart confirming he will get minutes off the bench. Michael Marrone, along with Jonny Yull and Yared Abetew have been promoted.
However, Ryan Strain and Tomi Juric are both ruled out with groin injuries and Javi López is nursing a calf complaint.
Key stats powered by Opta
- Adelaide United have scored three goals in the 76th minute or later this A-League season, more than any other team in the competition.
- Noah Smith has made the second-most interceptions (13) in the league this season, only Nikolai Topor-Stanley of Newcastle Jets (15) has more.
- Adelaide United (52%) are one of only two teams to have a shooting accuracy of greater than 50% this season.
Head-to-head
Played: 48
Wins: 21
Draws: 9
Losses: 18
Last five meetings
0-1 win (A)
2-1 loss (A)
1-0 win (H)
3-5 win (A)
4-3 win (H)
Ones to watch
Jordan Elsey was impervious against Victory. The stand-in skipper put on a clinic defensively prevailing in six of his eight duels. He will again need to deliver another resolute display at Dolphin Stadium, to keep quiet Roar’s attack and stifle the involvement of Dylan Wenzel-Halls.
The 23-year-old has started the season like a house on fire with two goals and two assists in three matches. Wenzel-Halls is a speedy winger and has the ability to run in behind, causing several problems for opposition defences.
Match details:
Game date: Saturday, 30 January vs Brisbane Roar
A-League 2020/21 – Matchweek 06
Kick-off 8.45pm ACDT
Venue: Dolphin Stadium
Broadcast: Fox Sports
Stream: Kayo Sports, MyFootball Live App
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