The Weekend Look: A-League Men round three

The Kiwi Clasico is the headline for another massive week of A-League football on Saturday afternoon, so get ready for the upcoming set of fixtures as we set our sights on the weekend.

Christian, Jacob and Lachie from the Round Ball Australia Podcast ask their burning questions, ponder the worst case scenarios and launch their speculative pings from distance in the Weekend Look for round three.

Burning question

Christian: Who are Sydney without Costa and Lolley?

Sydney FC have set the early marker in the competitive season, arguably playing the best football over the course of their AFC Champions League Two and A-League campaigns so far.

But, a loss to Auckland without star signing Douglas Costa and with Englishman Joe Lolley withdrawn in the first half, the Sky Blues will be without a little bit of their star power when they head up to Brisbane for Friday night football.

Both are in the mix to be available next week, but it will be an interesting test case to see how two key outs in the final third effect their efficiency in front of goal.

Jacob: Have City learned their lesson in defence?

Whilst Aurelio Vidmar was highly critical of his side’s pure effort and drive after their first half hammering in the Melbourne Derby, there were some structural issues at play as well.

Their rest defence was poor and can be assigned some of the blame for both of the first two goals on Saturday night.

Will they change up their shape in defensive transition, or will they rely on individuals to step up to the moment when it matters?

Lachie: Will there be on-field bite in the Kiwi Clasico?

The first ever professional derby in New Zealand footballing history has been built up to perfection.

The off-field jibes between Wellington and Auckland – dating all the way back to the Black Knights’ inception – have gone to elevate the fixture as much as possible before a ball has actually been kicked.

However, these kinds of rivalries sustain themselves over the long term due to the fight on the field. Will the players buy into the new rivalry as much as the fans and cities have, and what will the treatment be like of former Phoenix keeper, Alex Paulsen?

Worst case scenario

Christian: Kiwi Clasico ends 0-0

As Auckland have proved in the first two weeks of the season: First impressions matter.

Just like their two wins to kick off their first campaign is sure to bring fans back wanting more, an entertaining Kiwi Clasico will be the best possible way to start to build the rivalry from day dot.

Both these teams are riding a beautiful wave of momentum at the moment, and it would be a shame to see that diminished somewhat with a scoreless draw in Saturday afternoon.

Jacob: Western United get lower crowd at AAMI than Tarneit

Despite the fact that only a tick over 4000 people attended Western’s first home game of the season at Ironbark Fields last weekend, the atmosphere out at Tarneit finally felt like United were starting to build a solid community connection around the club.

Instead of being able to continue that progress, their home match against Melbourne City has had to be moved due to security concerns.

The late ticket availability, coupled with the Monday night fixture in Melbourne unfortunately has the potential to lead to a lower than ideal crowd number.

Lachie: City have another leader suspended

After James Jeggo’s stamp on Eli Adams in round one and Aziz Behich’s on Nikos Vergos in the Melbourne Derby, City now have to go into their game against Western without two key leaders in their squad.

Both incidents were completely avoidable and unfortunately now constitutes a pattern among City’s leadership group.

Losing another one on Monday night could almost trigger a crisis.

Ping from distance

Christian: Glory to defeat the Mariners

Perth have had a horrific start to their season, there’s no hiding around it.

But if there’s ever a ‘good’ time to take on the reigning Champs (and treble winners), it’s after a run of a few unconvincing performances, both at home and abroad in the AFC Champions League Elite.

The Mariners are always going to be a tough team to beat, particularly at home, but just maybe Glory could be in with a sniff of their first points.

Jacob: Macarthur put three past Victory

After a strong start to the season, the 6-1 victory against Perth in the opening round and the Australia Cup win against this week’s opponents, Macarthur are putting their foot forward as a side to come out of the blocks strong in 24/25.

Their 1-0 win against the Victory in the final came without their captain, Valère Germain – so with his inclusion, perhaps the Bulls could go on to improve upon that performance and result in this one.

Lachie: Western Sydney’s front line click into gear and put a flurry past Adelaide

The Wanderers posses one of the best attacking units in the league. Nicolas Milanovic and Brandon Borello are the highlights, but also have the pedigree (if yet unproved in the A-League) of Juan Mata lying behind them.

Neither the Sydney Derby nor an away trip to Ironbark Fields are ideal scenarios for the Wanderer’s attacking unit to really click into gear with earnest.

So perhaps it’s a home game against Adelaide, with all the conditioning implications of a bye in round one that will unlock a few goals for the red and black.