The A-League continues with a fresh set of fixtures as Western Sydney Wanderers and Brisbane Roar lock horns at the Bankwest Stadium on Sunday.
The hosts will be aiming to get one over the visitors having failed to taste victory in this fixture in any of their last five attempts.
Match preview
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Western Sydney Wanderers failed to end their poor run of results last time out as they suffered a 2-1 home defeat against Wellington Phoenix.
David Ball's opener was cancelled out by Keanu Baccus in the 28th minute before Tomer Hemed struck the winner three minutes before half time.
Carl Robinson's side have now lost each of their last three games, including a 1-0 loss in the Sydney derby and a heavy 5-1 defeat at the hands of Perth Glory on May 16.
After sitting in the top half of the table for most of the campaign, this drop off in form has seen Western Sydney Wanderers fall to ninth place in the A-League table.
They will now take on a resurgent Brisbane Roar side, who have won their last two outings, scoring five goals and conceding once.
Brisbane Roar, on the other hand, continued their pursuit of a playoff place as they cruised to a 3-0 victory over champions Melbourne City at the Suncorp Stadium.
After racing to a 2-0 first-half lead, Irish midfielder Jay O'Shea converted his second penalty of the game in the 52nd minute to hand the Roar their 10th victory of the season and end their three-game losing streak against Patrick Kisnorbo's side.
That followed a hard-earned 2-1 win over Newcastle Jets, where Riku Danzaki and O'Shea scored in either half to end a run of three games without a win.
This upturn in form has helped Warren Moon's men rise to fifth place in the league standings, one point ahead of Macarthur in the final playoff place.
Brisbane Roar will feel confident of securing a place in the playoffs as they have one game in hand over all the teams above them in the standings.
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Team News
The hosts remain without the services of veteran goalkeeper Vedran Janjetovic, who is yet to feature this season due to a shoulder injury.
Barring any late fitness issues, Robinson has every other player available for selection and we expect the Welshman to stick to the same XI that narrowly lost to the Phoenix last week.
Meanwhile, Josh Brindell-South will sit out the game after sustaining a shoulder injury in the 1-0 loss to Adelaide United on May 16.
The 28-year-old defender is joined on the Roar's treatment table by Golgol Mebrahtu, who is out with a groin problem.
Western Sydney Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Margush; Gordon, McGowan, Natta; Russell, Dorrans, Mutch, Aquilina; Kamau, Duke, Troisi
Brisbane Roar possible starting lineup:
Young; Neville, Aldred, Courtney-Perkins, Brown; Trewin, O'Shea, Akbari, Danzaki; Parsons, Kudo
We say: Western Sydney Wanderers 1-2 Brisbane Roar
After a decent start to the campaign, a series of poor outings has seen the hosts drop into the bottom half of the table. The visitors, meanwhile, have turned their fortunes around in recent weeks and now look set to clinch a place in the top six.
We predict Brisbane Roar will claim all three points and continue their dominance over Western Sydney Wanderers, having claimed three wins and two draws in their last five encounters.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Western Sydney Wanderers win with a probability of 38.76%. A win for Brisbane Roar had a probability of 37.11% and a draw had a probability of 24.1%.
The most likely scoreline for a Western Sydney Wanderers win was 2-1 with a probability of 8.5%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (7.38%) and 2-0 (5.67%). The likeliest Brisbane Roar win was 1-2 (8.29%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.06%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with a 5.7% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Western Sydney Wanderers would win this match.
