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The News
- A reminder that the Wanderers and Mariners double up on fixtures this week, and the Roar and Wanderers will be doubling up in Round 9.
- A recurring issue this season has been players unlisted in the official squads for the round playing (e.g. Josh Risdon being 'injured' for Perth then starting). SuperCoach HQ reader Dave managed to get a response from the FFA on this: "We understand Fans and the Media rely on the accuracy of this information in the lead up to a round for a variety of reasons. I can assure you that if there is no acceptable reason for this event to have occurred, club X will be sanctioned accordingly."
- Ali Abbas will be available to play for Sydney after the Sky Blues refused to release him for Iraq's Gulf Cup campaign (thanks to Ben for providing us with the info).
- Struggling Phoenix forward Jeremy Brockie could be on his way to Malaysia in the coming weeks.
- Adelaide forward Bruce Djite's injury is not as bad as first thought, with an absence of 2-3 weeks now expected.
- Thomas Doyle, Terry Antonis, Mark Milligan and Scott Galloway have withdrawn from their international squads through injury. Doyle is available to play however the Australian trio have been ruled out of participating in Saturday night's Sydney v Victory game by FFA regulations.
- Melbourne City have signed Liam Miller as cover for their absent international players, however it is only a 1-week contract.
Talking Points
- Really the only Newcastle player standing out points-wise is Joel Griffiths. Griffiths currently plays on the right, which hurts his chances of scoring a bit, but penalty duties may make up for this.
- Cheapie Allan Welsh held his spot in the Jets side, and Adrian Madaschi at long last has been named in a squad.
- The Roar are massively struggling, having become the first side in A-League history to lose their opening 4 games. Even Thomas Broich is not making an impact, scoring only 5 points in his last two games. Mensur Kurtishi is no Berisha replacement and it might be wise to move him on given he played just 10 minutes against City.
- Jack Hingert's knee injury has decimated his hopes of taking the right back spot from James Donachie, who is also out this week thanks to international duty.
- Djite's injury may have spelt bad news for owners of Sergio Cirio, as if he was forced to move centrally it would have seen his scoring potential take a hit. However, based on last night's FFA Cup win Cirio will remain on the left with Pablo Sanchez leading the line. Cirio has 7 goals in all competitions after his brace against the Mariners.
- Adelaide have kept two clean sheets in their last two home league games, and against a depleted Wellington they may make it three.
- Nathan Burns indeed bounced back with a goal against the Wanderers, however with many of his supporting cast absent this week he may not find it so easy against the Reds. He and Michael McGlinchey are clearly the men to get from the Nix, however the latter - who had a penalty saved by Covic - is absent this week.
- While Doyle is expected to play some part against Adelaide, word is that Josh Brindell-South will start ahead of him this weekend.
- Sydney have been surprisingly defensively sound this season, though they really should have conceded against Adelaide. Vedran Janjetovic looks one of the better keeper choices, while if you are happy to spend big on defenders Sasa Ognenovski has had a fantastic start to the season.
- Corey Gameiro has failed to find the back of the net since scoring 2 in his first 2 games this season, while Marc Janko just has his long range strike against Brisbane from 4 games. Both are away this week on international duty anyway, so it may be a good opportunity to move either on if you are unconvinced.
- Alex Brosque has been named in the squad however he could well miss again through injury this week.
- Victory may be seriously depleted on Saturday night, with Galloway, Milligan, Kosta Barbarouses, Connor Pain, Daniel Georgievski and Jason Geria ruled out, while Matthieu Delpierre, Besart Berisha, Gui Finkler and Fahid Ben Khalfallah all were absent from training yesterday. And to make matters worse, Archie Thompson left early with an injury concern. Nonetheless, all five have been named in the Victory's squad.
- League leaders Perth strangely aren't really providing us with many strong fantasy options. Andy Keogh hasn't scored for three weeks now, while Youssouf Hersi, Richard Garcia and Mitch Nicholls (who is away this week) have all struggled to make an impact.
- At least Nebojsa Marinkovic is starting to come good, with a free kick goal against the Mariners last week and a brace in the FFA Cup (including another free kick goal) against Bentleigh on Tuesday.
- Seyi Adeleke (DEF) and Nikita Rukavystya (FWD) have been added to the game at last, at $125k and $200k respectively - both can be considered at those prices.
- For those looking to free up some money in midfield, Romeo Castelen should produce more than his price tag suggests, while fellow cheapish midfielder Vitor Saba returns from suspension this week.
- I'd expect a fair amount of changes from the Wanderers side to face Perth to the one that plays the Mariners in midweek, so the impact of double fixtures may not be as strong as coaches want.
- With David Villa gone David Williams scoring potential should rise, and he made the most of his start against Brisbane by scoring a goal. Be wary that he (and his team) have a habit of being erratic.
- City's best fantasy player so far this season has been Aaron Mooy, perhaps thanks in part to the absence of Robert Koren. Mood however is away with the national team this week so if you have him make sure he's covered. A short term trade may also be an option; City face Sydney FC next week too.
- The Mariners are struggling to make an impact at the moment, however there were some encouraging signs in the second half of their FFA Cup defeat to Adelaide. Matt Sim and Glen Trifiro remain decent cheaper options, as may Jacob Poscoliero if he continues to hold his place. Young defenders Michael Neill and Hayden Morton were also given starts in the Mariners' most recent two matches.
- Like the Wanderers, I'd expect the Mariners to make a number of changes between the two games they play in the round, especially considering they played two games this week as well.