Adelaide United v Perth Glory
Date: Saturday August 2
Kick-off (local time): 2:30pm local
Venue: Vansittart Park, Mt Gambier
Head-to-head
Nine A-League meetings: Adelaide - 4 wins, Perth - 2 wins, 3 draws
Four Pre-Season Cup meetings: Adelaide - 1 win, 3 draws
Previous meeting
Perth Glory 3, Adelaide United 2, Round 20, January 2008
Pre-season Cup Results
Adelaide:
Round 1: Melbourne Victory 1, Adelaide United 2, Aurora Stadium, Sunday July 20
Round 2: Newcastle Jets 0, Adelaide United 0, Baddeley Park, Cessnock, Saturday July 27
Perth:
Round 1: Perth Glory 1, Newcastle Jets 1, Hyundai Stadium, Mandurah, Saturday July 19
Round 2: Perth Glory 0, Melbourne Victory 1, Members Equity Stadium, Saturday July 26
Previous Pre-season Cup Results
Adelaide:
2007: Champions (defeated Perth Glory 2-1 in final at Hindmarsh Stadium)
2006: Champions (defeated Central Coast 5-4 on penalties in final at Bluetongue Stadium)
2005: Group Stage (three matches for three draws, third in Group A)
Perth:
2007: Runner-up (Lost to Adelaide 2-1 in final)
2006: Sixth (Lost to Melbourne 1-0 in fifth-place playoff)
2005: Semi-finals (Lost to Central Coast 1-0 in final)
Analysis
Adelaide still leads Group A on four points and a win in this match will sew its spot up in the Pre-Season Cup final. That would give the Reds a chance to make it three successive pre-season titles, which would be a fantastic effort.
They travel to Mount Gambier, the city on the Victorian border famous for its Blue Lake, with plenty of confidence after a win over Melbourne in Launceston, and a draw with reigning Hyundai A-League champion Newcastle in Cessnock. While Aurelio Vidmar has made a few personnel changes, particularly in attack, his new players, including Brazilians Alemao and Cristiano have settled in well.
Travis Dodd was announced as the club's new captain during the week, while Vidmar is expected to name a similar squad to the one which travelled to Cessnock. Paul Agostino (groin) and Diego (hamstring) are both still out. Sasa Ognenovski will also miss after receiving a knock at training.
Perth needs to win this match easily and hope Melbourne and Newcastle draw if it is going to get through. But it will be without defender Dino Djulbic, who is suspended, and James Robinson and Hayden Foxe, who are both injured. Amaral is still awaiting his visa.
Three players come in, triallists Anthony Skorich and Scott Bulloch and youth player Brent Griffiths.
The Glory will take some heart that they won the previous match these two teams played in January. However, the heroes of that match, Nikita Rukavytsya (Olyroos) and Jamie Harnwell (injured) are both unavailable.
Adelaide United Squad: 20.Eugene GALEKOVIC (GK), 2.Robert CORNTHWAITE, 3.ALEMAO, 4.Angelo COSTANZO, 5.Michael VALKANIS, 6.CASSIO, 7.Lucas PANTELIS, 10.CRISTIANO, 13.Travis DODD (Captain), 14.Scott JAMIESON, 15.Jonas SALLEY, 16.Daniel MULLEN, 18.Fabian BARBIERO, 21.Jason SPAGNUOLO, 30.Mark BIRIGHITTI (GK).
In: -
Out: Sasa OGNENOVSKI (foot – 1 week)
Unavailable: Paul AGOSTINO (groin – 1 week), Daniel BELTRAME (Indefinite), DIEGO (hamstring – 1 week), Isyan ERDOGAN (hamstring – indefinite), Kristian SARKIES (Olyroos duty).
Perth Glory Squad: 1.Jason PETKOVIC (gk), 3.David TARKA, 4.Jamie COYNE, 7.Nick RIZZO, 9.Adrian TRINIDAD, 14.Eugene DADI, 15.Hayden DOYLE, 16.Adriano PELLEGRINO, 17.James DOWNEY, 19.Naum SEKULOVSKI, 20.Frank JURIC (gk), 21.Mark LEE, 24.Anthony SKORICH, 25.Brent GRIFFITHS, 26.Scott BULLOCH
In: 24.Anthony SKORICH (Trial player), 25.Brent GRIFFITHS (Promoted - Youth Team), 26.Scott BULLOCH (Trial player)
Out: 6.Dino DJULBIC (Suspended – two cautions), 8.James ROBINSON (knee – 1 week), 18.Hayden FOXE (ankle – 1 week)
Unavailable: 2.Nikolai TOPOR-STANLEY (Olympic Team), 5.Jamie HARNWELL (hip – 2 weeks), 10.AMARAL (In transit to Australia), 12.Josip MAGDIC (ankle – 1 week), 13.Nikita RUKAVYTSYA (Olympic Team), 30.Tando VELAPHI (Olympic Team)