Brisbane Roar will travel down to face an in-form Western Sydney Wanderers side at Marconi Stadium on Saturday evening in pursuit of a big three points away from home.
After holding out a then second-placed Perth Glory last Saturday night with a 0-0 draw at Macedonia Park, Roar will be determined to keep this intensity up with challenging opposition ahead of their battle against Western Sydney.
The Wanderers are coming off the back of four wins, but Roar will be motivated to put an end to this winning streak on Saturday.
WHAT WAS SAID
After a pleasing performance in Perth on the weekend, Head Coach Alex Smith reflected on his side’s improvement over the past few months and looks to keep building ahead of the Western Sydney Wanderers this Saturday.
“I was very happy with that performance. I thought we controlled large parts of the game, which was pleasing, just failed to put away a few chances as has been the case for a few of our games now, been doing a bit of work on that at training as much as we can,” Smith said.
“Hopefully the girls take a little bit of confidence from the performance and build on that against Western Sydney,” he added.
“We played them [Western Sydney] not too long ago, I thought we were the better team on the day. We have just gone away to Perth who are in second place and for me, played a much better game than they did and dominated the game so there’s no reason we can’t do that this weekend.”
“They’ve obviously got a couple of threats, but I thought we dealt with them quite well the last time we played them so more of the same and at the other end, just putting the ball in the back of the net when the opportunity presents itself.”
LAST TIME WE MET
Roar last faced Western Sydney in Round 8 of the Liberty A-League in December 2023 at Perry Park where the points were shared in a 1-1 draw.
Striker Mia Corbin was first to open to scoring in the 26th minute when she drove into the box and showcased a strong finish to put give Brisbane the lead.
In the 34th minute, Hollie Palmer’s corner found Bec Kirkup for a header into goal but instead a free kick for Western Sydney was given due to push in the box.
The Wanderers found the equaliser in the 50th minute after a cross found an open Sophie Harding in front of goal to finish at the bottom right corner.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
Games: 17
Brisbane win: 12
Western Sydney win: 4
Draw: 1
KEY STATS – brought to you by Opta
Brisbane Roar FC have won their last six A-League Women games against Western Sydney Wanderers FC at Marconi Stadium, outscoring them 13-1 across that term.
Western Sydney Wanderers FC have won their last four straight games in the A-League Women, their longest winning streak in the competition; indeed, the last and only previous time they went longer without a defeat in the competition was a six-game stretch from November to December in 2019 (W5 D1).
Brisbane Roar FC have an accuracy of 60% on passes ending in the final third this A-League Women season, the second highest of any team in the competition behind only Melbourne City FC (72%).
Sophie Harding (Western Sydney Wanderers FC) has made 18 carries ending in a shot at goal this A-League Women season, the most of any player in the competition, as well as finding the back of the net with two of those 18 shots.
Mia Corbin (Brisbane Roar FC) has made 22 flick-on passes in the 2023/24 A-League Women season, the second most of any player in the competition behind only the Newcastle Jets’ Sarina Bolden (23).
INS AND OUTS
- Keeley RICHARDS 2. Rebecca KIRKUP 3. Deborah-Anne DE LA HARPE 4. Kijah STEPHENSON 5. Jenna MCCORMICK 6. Holly MCQUEEN 7. Ayesha NORRIE (C) 8. Mariel HECHER 9. Mia CORBIN 11. Sharn FREIER 12. Tamar LEVIN 13. Tameka YALLOP 14. Sarah O’DONOGHUE 17. Leah SCARPELLI 18. Teagan THOMPSON 19. Hollie PALMER 20. Bonnie DAVIES 2. Ruby CUTHBERT 29. Jordan SILKOWITZ (GK) 32. Alicia WOODS
INS: 17. Leah SCARPELLI
OUTS: 21. Isabella SHUTTLEWORTH
UNAVAILABLE: 10. Grace KUILAMU 15. Hannah HOLGERSEN 16. Chelsea BLISSETT 23. Ashlee BRODIGAN
MATCH DETAILS
Liberty A-League Women 2023/24 – Round 14: Western Sydney Wanderers vs Brisbane Roar
Marconi Stadium, Sydney
Saturday, 27 January (4:00pm KO)
