Western United and Sydney FC will be looking to return to winning ways in the A-League when they square off at AAMI Park on Saturday.
The hosts were on the receiving end of a 3-0 loss against Perth Glory last time out, while the visitors head into this clash off the back of a 1-1 draw with Newcastle Jets.
Match preview
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Western United failed to end their winless run on Wednesday as they fell to another heavy defeat, losing 3-0 to Perth Glory at HBF Park.
Prior to that, Mark Rudan's men suffered two straight losses, including a 5-0 hammering at the hands of Western Sydney Wanderers last Saturday.
While Western United were in full control for most of the game, they lacked finishing in front of goal, and this came back to haunt them as Carl Robinson's side cruised to a comfortable victory.
They have now picked up just one point from their most recent four games, and this poor form has seen them drop to eighth in the A-League table, three points behind Brisbane Roar in the final playoff place.
Sydney, meanwhile, failed to recover from their painful 3-2 loss to Western Sydney Wanderers as they played out a 1-1 draw with Newcastle Jets last time out.
After falling one goal behind through Roy O'Donovan's 59th-minute penalty, the Sky Blues were rewarded for their constant probing as Nigel Boogaard scored an own goal to restore parity.
Despite the draw, Steve Corica's men leapfrogged Adelaide United and moved into third place in the log following the Reds' defeat to Melbourne City.
Having claimed a 2-0 win back in March's reverse fixture, Sydney will now aim to do the league double over Saturday's hosts and strengthen their position in the table.
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Team News
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Socceroo midfielder Joshua Risdon is still unavailable for selection as he remains sidelined with a foot problem sustained in the 2-0 win over Newcastle Jets back in April.
He is joined on the treatment table by 19-year-old defender Dalibor Markovic, who is ruled out with a calf injury.
The visitors will once again take to the pitch without Michael Zullo, whose season was brought to an abrupt end after he picked up a lengthy calf injury.
Twenty-four-year-old midfielder Chris Zuvela remains out with a knee injury picked up against Wellington Phoenix back in February.
Brazilian striker Bobo, who is in fine goalscoring form having found the target four times in his last five outings, is one to watch out for as he leads the visitors' attack.
Western United possible starting lineup:
Scott; Imai, Durante, Uskok; Pierias, Duzel, Sanchez, Vujica; Wales, Berisha, Diamanti
Sydney FC possible starting lineup:
Redmayne; King, McGowan, Wilkinson, Grant; Brattan, Baumjohann, Ninkovic, Retre; Barbarouses, Bobo
We say: Western United 2-2 Sydney FC
While Western United have stumbled in recent weeks, they have the firepower needed to turn their fortunes around and grab the result. Similarly, the visitors also have a fine crop of players in their camp and so we predict an entertaining and high-scoring draw in this one.
Top tip
Joshua Ojele
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 Sydney FC win with a probability of 47.76%. A win for Western United had a probability of 29.38% and a draw had a probability of 22.9%.
The most likely scoreline for a Sydney FC win was 1-2 with a probability of 9.3%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (7.4%) and 0-2 (6.72%). The likeliest Western United win was 2-1 (7.09%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10.24%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 7.4% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Sydney FC would win this match.
