The third of the A-League's midweek games is here with Sydney FC hosting North Queensland Fury.
The battle of the cellar dwellers sees reigning champs Sydney, currently glued to the bottom, take on the lowly Fury who are just three points ahead of them in second last place.
There was plenty of improvement from the Sky Blues on the weekend in their 1-1 draw with Gold Coast United but the fact they couldn't put a ten-man opposition away is not a good sign whilst the Fury were thoroughly outplayed although they only lost 2-1 to Wellington Phoenix in New Zealand.
Franz Straka will welcome back a host of attackers in the mould of Chris Payne, Dyron Daal, Eugene Sseppuya and Isaka Cernak to a team which has scored just once in their last three and that may tip the balance their way but if Vitezslav Lavicka allows his side to drop this one, there will be hell to pay in the Harbour City.
Expect Sydney to come out firing and record their first win of the season.
Verdict:Sydney 2-1
Sydney FC v North Queensland FuryDate: Wednesday, 29 September 2010 Venue:Sydney Football Stadium, SydneyLocal Kick-off: 7:30pm Head to Head: All matches (played 4): Sydney FC wins 2, North Queensland Fury wins 2 (0 draws) Referee: Ryan Shepheard
Live and exclusive broadcast on FOX Sports 3, FS3 HD & delayed on Sky Sport 1 (NZ). Hyundai A-League club broadcast partner is SBS 6 (Digital) and Zinc 100.7 (Townsville). To purchase tickets visit www.ticketek.com.au
Sydney FC squad: 1. Liam REDDY (gk), 2. Sebastian RYALL, 3. Stephan KELLER, 5. Hayden FOXE, 6. Hirofumi MORIYASU, 7. Brendan GAN, 8. Stuart MUSIALIK, 9. Bruno CAZARINE, 12. Shannon COLE, 13. Antony GOLEC, 14. Alex BROSQUE, 15. Terry MCFLYNN (c), 17. Matt JURMAN, 19. Mark BRIDGE, 20. Ivan NECEVSKI (gk), 21. Scott JAMIESON, 22. Sung-Hwan BYUN *two to be omitted* In: Antony GOLEC (returns from national team duty) Out: Nil Unavailable: 10. Nicky CARLE (toe - 2 weeks), 11. Kofi DANNING (Young Socceroos), 16. Terry ANTONIS (Young Socceroos), 23. Rhyan GRANT (Young Socceroos), Dimitri PETRATOS (Young Socceroos)
North Queensland Fury squad: 1. Justin PASFIELD (gk), 2. Jack HINGERT, 3. Brad McDONALD, 4. Eric AKOTO, 5. Mark HUGHES, 7. Gareth EDDS (c), 9. Eugene SSEPPUYA, 10. Dyron DAAL, 11. David WILLIAMS, 12. Panagiotis NIKAS, 13. Andre KILIAN, 14. Chris GROSSMAN, 15. Chris PAYNE, 16. Simon STOREY, 17. Osama MALIK, 18. Brett STUDMAN, 19. Isaka CERNAK, 21. Jason SPAGNUOLO, 28. Sebastian USAI (gk) *four to be omitted* In: Eugene SSEPPUYA (returns visa issue), Dyron DAAL (returns hamstring), Andre KILIAN (returns foot injury), Chris PAYNE (returns national team duty), Isaka CERNAK (returns national team duty) Out: Ufuk TALAY (c) (2 match suspension) Unavailable: Ufuk Talay (suspended - 2 weeks), Adam CASEY (calf - 1 week), Matthew HAM (knee - 3 weeks)
