The struggle for goals continued against Sydney FC last week, but the Glory managed to keep a fourth clean sheet of the season to secure a point at HBF Park.
Now the Sky Blues have been passed, the challenge lying ahead this weekend comes in the colours of Red and Black.
Alen Stajcic’s Wanderers are on a hot streak, winning three of their last four to be right back in the mix for a top two spot.
With history and form on the side of Western Sydney, David Zdrilic will have his work cut out to get a result at CommBank Stadium on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Glory girls are back in action, looking to make it two wins from two this season against Newcastle.
As the summer ends and autumn begins, the talking points as both teams prepare to tackle the final seven games of their respective seasons.
The second striker – who’s the best option?
Comparing this season to last, the biggest downgrade has the been the amount of goals scored.
Defensive issues persisted in the first 12 games; now the backline is more stable. In the last seven games, the Glory have conceded eight goals.
In the same spell, only five goals have been scored. In 10 games out of 19, they have failed to find the net.
A key point of difference is the service Adam Taggart has been getting, and the lack of an attacking partner to link up and combine with.
Under Alen Stajcic, Taggart’s two partners in attack were Stefan Colakovski and David Williams. He had chemistry with both of them, and could rely on the pair to get on the scoresheet. Combined, they scored 11 goals.
Not only has Taggart not had the service, but he also hasn’t got others stepping up to ease the pressure on him. Of the 12 goals scored, only three of them have come without Taggart scoring or assisting.
Lachie Wales or Jaylan Pearman look most likely to provide the service he needs. With more game time Nikola Mileusnic could be the one to do it. It just needs to be someone, or else goals will continue to be sparse for the rest of the season.
Okamoto as a centre back?
A groin injury forced Tass Mourdoukoutas off at half time against Sydney, which saw a reshuffling of the defence for the second half.
Takuya Okamoto was moved from right back to centre back, allowing Josh Risdon to come on and play in his natural position.
Shifting Okamoto put him closer to his compatriot Yuto Misao, who impressed on his starting debut at left back.
Mourdoukoutas faces a fitness test to determine whether he will feature this week. If he doesn’t, at least David Zdrilic has good options as backup.
Having the two Japanese signings playing close together should make it easier for the pair, and opens the door for Risdon to slot back in on the right side of defence.
It’s worth experimenting for the final stanza. All the back four of last week held firm against a good attack, and will have their work cut against an equally good Wanderers attack on Sunday.
Predicted lineup
Wood – Taggart
Wales – Amos – Pennington – Mileusnic
Misao – Okamoto – Mrcela – Risdon
Sail
And for the women…
Can they take advantage of an out-of-form Jets?
As far as chances go to get a first away win and first clean sheet of the season, the Glory women won’t get a better chance than this weekend.
The Jets are on a 10 game winless run, have the worst defence in the ALW and are one of the lowest scoring teams in the competition.
Unlikely as it is, finals is still mathematically possible if they can end the season with a crazy good run of form.
With Hollie Palmer signed as an injury replacement and key players set to return in the coming weeks, who knows what could happen.
Stephen Peters mentioned reward for effort; if that finals push is to somehow eventuate, they need to put in the effort each game and take their chances.
The Jets took the lead against the Glory in their last encounter; that shows if the Glory are off it, they could be punished.
Getting the win tomorrow would be another big boost, and would set up the team nicely for the final six games, four of which are at home.
