It’s that time of the week again…
Having digested the stats provided by our good friends at Opta and had an enjoyable trawl through the archives, we’ve crunched the key numbers ahead of Sunday’s Round 8 clash with Newcastle Jets at McDonald Jones Stadium.
Home from Home
McDonald Jones Stadium remains comfortably Glory’s most successful (current) away venue.
The men in purple boast a 55% win rate there and are unbeaten in their last 10 visits (6 wins, 4 draws)
The Jets last won this corresponding fixture back in November 2011
Franjic on Fire
Ivan Franjic has delivered nine successful crosses from open play this season, three more than any other player in the competition
The Socceroos defender has also touched the ball 477 times, the third-highest total in the Glory squad behind Jason Davidson and the man in pole position, Neil Kilkenny
Everywhere Man
Shane Lowry leads Glory’s stats for clearances (39), blocks (6) and passes in his own half (202)
Fellow-defender Jason Davidson, meanwhile, is top of the tree for tackles attempted with 13
Hot Shots
Glory’s shot conversion rate of 21.3% is second only to that of Sydney FC (21.6%) thus far this term
Newcastle’s rate of 10.8%, meanwhile, sees them ranked ninth
A Foot in Both Camps
Notable players to have represented both clubs include Nikolai Topor-Stanley, who is expected to anchor the Jets’ defence on Sunday, Liam Reddy, Scott Neville, Jade North, Ante Covic, Jack Duncan, Adam Taggart, Kasey Wehrman, Josh Mitchell, Neil Young and Mitch Oxborrow
Close-Range Specialists
Neither Glory nor the Jets have scored from outside the box or found the net via a set-piece as yet this season
Both, meanwhile, have conceded two goals from outside the box
Quick Starters
Glory’s record of three goals in the opening 15 minutes of games this year is the best in the league
In contrast, the Jets are yet to score in that period and have only recorded two first-half goals in their seven games to date
Danger-man Dimitri
Dimitri Petratos has created 15 chances for the Jets this season and contributed three assists, the third-best record in the league behind Melbourne Victory’s Keisuke Honda and Craig Goodwin of Adelaide United
Glory’s highest-ranked player in this category is Neil Kilkenny who is placed sixth with 19 chances created and two assists, although the midfielder is adamant that he was robbed of an assist for the club’s opening goal of the season!
Not bad for starters!
Glory set the tone for their successful record at McDonald Jones Stadium by running out 5-1 winners on their first Hyundai A-League visit back in October 2005
Damian Mori (2), Bobby Despotovski, Jamie Harnwell and Naum Sekulovski shared the goals for the visitors that day, while Liam Reddy was the man picking the ball out of the net five times for the hosts!
Century in Sight
Dino Djulbic could be the next current Glory player to join Andy Keogh in taking his A-League appearances tally for the club into three figures
The popular central defender has now featured on 97 occasions during his three spells here in the West
#OneGlory
