Roar your team on to score! It’s time for Brisbane to find the back of the net and knock the leaders off their perch, as a familiar face returns…
Brisbane Roar v Adelaide United
Saturday 18th September 7:30pm
Suncorp Stadium
Roar your team on to score! It-s time for Brisbane to find the back of the net and knock the leaders off their perch, as a familiar face returns…
…What a difference a week makes. Before Brisbane Roar-s trip to Victoria, they were impenetrable – an immovable object – unbeaten and rock-solid at the back. After the defensive horror-show in Melbourne though, the statistics tell a different story.
Slipping slightly down the ladder, Roar-s goal difference has gone from a plus to a minus, and their goals tally is the joint lowest in the league. So, now is the time for Roar to start scoring – and what an opportunity for their front-men to find their form as Adelaide United come to town.
United-s free-flowing football has seen them concede their share of goals; in six Hyundai A-League 2010/11 matches they have let in an average of more than a goal a game. It-s time to turn Suncorp Stadium orange and maroon and encourage your boys to attack!
Roar fans be warned though, scoring goals is something that their opponents do well. With Matthew Leckie having netted three times in four games, Adelaide are top scorers in the Hyundai A-League 2010/11 season, with an average of two a game thus far. However, while Leckie may be the Reds- top marksmen, all eyes will be on another of the visitors- attackers…
As if the clash between two of this season-s surprise packages wasn-t tasty enough, it is made even more so by the return of a man who will forever be remembered in Brisbane. As the club-s all-time Hyundai A-League top scorer, Sergio van Dijk was a hero in Queensland-s capital. However, for the first time, he will be appearing at Suncorp stadium not in the orange that he became such an icon in, but in the unfamiliar colours of Adelaide.
While Roar fans will undoubtedly have fond memories of the man who scored a goal every other game for their side, there will be no love lost once the match begins on Saturday night. History will count for nothing. Brisbane need the win and Van Dijk will be more keen than ever to add to the two goals he hit for his new side against Sydney a couple of weeks ago.
There may be a slightly unfamiliar look to Brisbane-s starting eleven against Adelaide. With Luke DeVere one of four Brisbane youngsters selected in the Qantas Olyroos squad to compete at the Four Nations Tournament in Vietnam next week, Milan Susak may shift from the right into the heart of defence while Matt Mundy could find himself making his first start of the Hyundai A-League 2010/11 season.
Meanwhile, winger Henrique will be out for a while after suffering a transverse fracture of the humeral shaft of his left arm in the nightmare match against Melbourne Victory. United will be missing Daniel Mullen, who also joins up with former Reds boss, Aurelio Vidmar, for the trip to Vietnam.
As last season-s two bottom sides continue to challenge at the right end of the ladder, this game is certain to be a good indicator of their progress since their miserable campaigns last time round. United are yet to taste defeat at Suncorp Stadium, so if Brisbane are to buck that trend then Roar fans are going to need to make plenty of noise on Saturday night.
Can the home side get one over a returning hero and pull themselves back up the ladder? Will Van Dijk-s return to his old stomping ground be a triumphant one? Grab a ticket and find out…
