It's been a long wait but A-League action is back on the cards again today. Three matches kick off the opening round today while proceedings wrap up with another two tomorrow, and there are some mouth watering clashes in there.
First up is Newcastle Jets versus Melbourne Heart. This is a match that probably wasn't going to have that much of interest to it. But then the Jets sacked Branko Culina the other day and now that has added some real interest to the match. It's going to be interesting to see how the Jets rally against the controversy and with the Jets at home just what impact it has had on the fans. Football wise the Jets are the stronger side in defence but lack potency up front while the Heart look soft at the back but seem to have plenty of attacking options. Honestly I can see this match going either way and wouldn't rule out a draw.
Match two steps it up quite a few notches with a bit of an 'el classico' when Melbourne Victory take on Sydney FC in what is really being billed as a battle of the marquees. It's Kewell's Victory versus Emerton's Sydney and that is the way it has been promoted. The match is at Etihad rather than AAMI Park so it's clearly one that they are expecting a big crowd for. Victory can pull big crowds and so can this fixture, with the added drawing power of the two big names we could see a crowd pushing the 50,000 mark which would be awesome. Sydney, despite signing Emerton, aren't attracting a lot of interest from pundits and Victory would go into this match as favourites. The home side look to have plenty of goals in them but there are question marks over their defence. Sydney are solid around the park but unless they show significant improvement over last season this could be a win for the Victory.
Match three of Saturday cranks things up to eleven with a grand final replay between Brisbane Roar and Central Coast Mariners. Both sides have some injury concerns with the Mariners definitely without Alex Wilkinson and Mustafa Amini, while the role will make late decisions about Matt Smith, Sayed Adnan and Henrique. The Mariners have still got to be hurting after losing the grand final the way they did and will be really looking to grab some revenge here. Roar will be looking to kick off the new campaign in style and much will depend on how new boys Adnan, Issey Nakajima-Farran and Besart Berisha adjust to the league. With new owners in Roar will be looking to give them a winning start as well. The weather though may keep crowd numbers down as it is absolutely pissing down here in Brisbane this morning and there have been storms causing areas of Brisbane to lose power. Hopefully the weather clears and we can get a good game and a crowd. Again I think this match could go either way.
Sunday kicks off with an intriguing encounter between Gold Coast United and Wellington Phoenix. The Nix have had a tumultuous off-season and don't look particularly strong. To be honest I can't see anything but a Gold Coast win here. Defensively they look like they have far too much strength and they should have enough fire-power upfront to put the Nix away.
Rounding out the weekend is Adelaide United versus Perth Glory. Here we have two sides that have significantly rebuilt from last season. Adelaide look to have a really strong squad and many are expecting them to do very well this season. Perth have strengthened but the big question mark is whether they can actually deliver on their promise. This fixture is always one that has a bit of extra spice to it as there is plenty of rivalry between these two and we should see a big crowd at Hindmarsh. I reckon the Reds will grab the win though.
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