Gold Coast United v Adelaide United preview

Fourth hosts third in what should be a decent game of football in the 25th week of A-League action this season.

Gold Coast United have a great chance to shore up a top-four spot with a win over Adelaide United, which would put them just one point behind the Reds on the table.

Miron Bleiberg will be hoping his side can redeem themselves after Sunday’s disappointing effort against Melbourne Victory and they should go a long way to doing that with the return of star striker Shane Smeltz and midfielders Zenon Caravella and Steve Pantelidis.

However, Adelaide will be seething after dropping all three points at home to Central Coast Mariners and will be determined to keep their sights on second place with a victory here.

Rini Coolen will bring former Holland international Andy Slory into the squad where he will most likely come off the bench and provide plenty for his new club whilst Croatian defender Dario Bodrusic is also included.

The Reds will need to be at the top of their game as Gold Coast have lost just one of their past 11 at Skilled Park. If this was at Hindmarsh Stadium I would be all over the Reds and though that is not the case, I feel they can at least grab a point as they did at this venue back in October.

Verdict: 1-1 draw

Gold Coast United vs. Adelaide United
Date: Wednesday, 2 February 2011
Venue: Skilled Park, Robina
Local kick-off: 8:00pm (9.00pm AEDT)
Referee: Chris Beath
Head-to-Head: All matches (played 5): Gold Coast United wins 1, Adelaide United wins 1 (3 draws)
Match fact: Two Adelaide United players are each set to make their 100th Hyundai A-League appearance: Robert Cornthwaite and Eugene Galekovic. The only other time more than one player from the same team made their Hyundai A-League century of appearances was on 7 March 2010 when Melbourne Victory players Kevin Muscat and Tom Pondeljak each made their 100th appearance.

Live and exclusive broadcast on FOX Sports 2, FS2 HD & Sky Sports 2 (NZ). Hyundai A-League club broadcast partner is ABC Digital Adelaide. To purchase tickets visit www.ticketek.com.au

Gold Coast United squad: 1.Glen MOSS [gk], 2.Steve PANTELIDIS, 3.Michael THWAITE (c), 6.Dino DJULBIC, 7.Zenon CARAVELLA, 8.ANDERSON, 9.Shane SMELTZ, 11.Bruce DJITE, 13.Bas VAN DEN BRINK, 14.Joel PORTER, 16.Kristian REES, 20.Scott HIGGINS [gk], 21.Golgol MEBRAHTU, 22.Adama TRAORE, 24.John CURTIS, 27.Chris HAROLD, 33.Peter PERCHTOLD, 34.Sung-Kil KIM *three to be omitted*
In: Steve PANTELIDIS (promoted), Shane SMELTZ (return from illness), Zenon CARAVELLA (promoted), Chris HAROLD (promoted)
Out: Steve FITZSIMMONS (not selected)
Unavailable: Jason CULINA (knee injury – 5 weeks), ROBSON (hamstring injury – 7 weeks), Daniel PIORKOWSKI (ankle injury – indefinite), Matt OSMAN (knee injury – indefinite)

Adelaide United squad: 1.Eugene GALEKOVIC (gk), 2.Robert CORNTHWAITE, 3.Nigel BOOGAARD, 6.CASSIO, 7.Lucas PANTELIS, 8.Adam HUGHES, 9.Sergio VAN DIJK, 10.Marcos FLORES, 11.Andy SLORY, 12.Paul REID, 13.Travis DODD (c), 14.Cameron WATSON, 16.Dario BODRUSIC, 17.Iain RAMSAY, 19.Mathew LECKIE, 20.Mark BIRIGHITTI (gk), 21.Francisco USUCAR, 22.Osama MALIK *three to be omitted*
In: Andy SLORY (returns from injury), Dario BODRUSIC (promoted), Osama MALIK (promoted)
Out: Nil
Unavailable: Daniel MULLEN (knee – season), Joe COSTA (knee – season), Joe KEENAN (leg – season), Fabian BARBIERO (ankle – season)