Two unbeaten sides will go head-to-head on Saturday night when Glory face old rivals Brisbane Roar at nib Stadium and Head Coach Tony Popovic is expecting a tough contest to unfold.
Glory did, of course, follow an opening-round draw with Western Sydney Wanderers by securing a thrilling last-gasp away win at champions Melbourne Victory, while Roar have played out consecutive home draws.
But although understandably delighted with the 3-2 triumph at AAMI Park, Popovic is adamant that the playing group now have their sights set solely on Roar.
“I was pleased with large parts of the first game and then we came away from a difficult encounter in Melbourne winning in the last minute which was very positive for us as a group and for the club,” he said.
“But we’ve well and truly moved on from that and our focus now is purely upon Brisbane. They are a different opponent who will provide different challenges and we are expecting a tough game against a very dangerous team.
“They had some very good opportunities in their first two games and could have won both of them.
“We can see that they have a lot of strengths going forward, so it’s about us imposing our style of play on them.
“We are at home and hopefully we can continue on with our good form and get another win.
“We go into the game confident, but we’re not naive enough to think that we won’t have to be at our best to get the three points.
“In front of our members and fans, a confident side against a good opponent; it should be a good night.”
https://players.brightcove.net/5498268486001/default_default/index.html?videoId=5856181391001
Leading scorer Andy Keogh, meanwhile, is relishing playing as the spearhead of Glory’s new-look tactical approach.
“I always back myself, especially with the way we are playing and the formation that we are playing in,” he said.
“I’m very comfortable knowing that I’m going to get chances.
“The way our defence pushes up and squeezes the space allows me to not to have to drop back so deep and ultimately be closer to the goal to score.”
Roar recollections
Glory’s most spectacular win over Roar came in February 2016 when Andy Keogh, Nebojsa Marinkovic, Chris Harold, Shane Lowry, Diego Castro and Richard Garcia all found the net in a 6-3 thriller.
You can view the highlights here:
https://players.brightcove.net/5498268486001/default_default/index.html?videoId=5856096179001
Last season, meanwhile, late goals from Keogh and Castro were on target again when Glory won 2-1 at Suncorp Stadium in Round 12, but the Queenslanders subsequently enjoyed a pair of 3-2 victories in Round 17 and Round 27.
Stat Attack
Glory are currently the league’s top scorers with four goals and Andy Keogh and Sydney FC’s Adam Le Fondre are the only players to have found the net twice in the opening two rounds.
Brisbane have claimed all three points on only one of their last seven trips to nib Stadium, but still have a 47% win ratio here in the West.
Glory have the highest shot conversion ratio in the league with 22%, while Roar have the lowest with 4%.
Roar have not managed to keep an away clean sheet since Round 9 of last season.
Current Glory duo Ivan Franjic and Liam Reddy racked up a combined total of 197 A-League appearances for Brisbane during their respective spells at Suncorp Stadium.
Match Details
Hyundai A-League 2018/19 Season Round 3
Saturday, 3 November 2018
Perth Glory v Brisbane Roar FC
nib Stadium, Perth
Kick-Off: 7:00PM (Local) (10:00PM (AEDT))
Referee: Daniel Elder
Assistant Referee 1: Josh Mannella
Assistant Referee 2: Matthew Southern
Fourth Official: Adam Fielding
VAR: Kris Griffiths-Jones
Join the conversation on Twitter using the hash tag #PERvBRI
To purchase tickets click HERE.
Perth Glory squad: 1.Tando VELAPHI (gk), 2.Alex GRANT, 3.Jason DAVIDSON, 4.Shane LOWRY, 5.Ivan FRANJIC, 6.Dino DJULBIC, 7.Joel CHIANESE, 9.Andy KEOGH, 13.Matthew SPIRANOVIC, 15.Brandon WILSON, 16.Tomislav MRCELA, 19.Chris IKONOMIDIS, 20.Jake BRIMMER, 22.Fabio FERREIRA, 23.Scott NEVILLE, 27.JUANDE, 33.Liam REDDY (gk), 88.Neil KILKENNY
**two to be omitted**
Ins: 13.Matt SPIRANOVIC (promoted), 6.Dino DJULBIC (promoted)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 11.Brendon SANTALAB (hamstring – 1 week), 17.Diego CASTRO (hamstring – 1-2 weeks), 21.Jacob ITALIANO (knee – 1-2 weeks)
Brisbane Roar FC squad: 1.Brendan WHITE (gk), 2.Dane INGHAM, 4.Daniel BOWLES, 6.Avram PAPADOPOULOS, 7.Thomas KRISTENSEN, 8.Jacob PEPPER, 9.Adam TAGGART, 11.Eric BAUTHEAC, 13.Stefan MAUK, 14.Alex LOPEZ, 17.Matt MCKAY (c), 18.Joe CALETTI, 19.Jack HINGERT, 21.Jamie YOUNG (gk), 22.Tobias MIKKELSEN, 24.Connor O’TOOLE, 26.Nicholas D’AGOSTINO, 33.HENRIQUE
**two to be omitted**
Ins: 2.Dane INGHAM (returns from injury), 18.Joe CALETTI (promoted)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 10.Brett HOLMAN (knee – TBC)
#OneGlory
