The Jets will face off with competition heavyweights, the Western Sydney Wanderers at McDonald Jones Stadium in Round 4 of the Hyundai A-League.
The home side will be looking to impress what is expected to be a healthy home crowd, with another strong performance against Western Sydney.
For the visitors, this will be their third game in just eight days, which included a derby and an FFA Cup Semi Final.
Jets’ boss, Ernie Merrick is expecting another tough clash for his chargers.
“There’s no easy games in this league, everyone has recruited well and prepared well and the Wanderers have a very good squad,” said Merrick.
“They’re undefeated and playing well under Hayden Foxe, who no doubt would like to stay in the role on a permanent basis, so I’m sure he’ll have his boys highly motivated.
“I think that despite their workload this week, the Wanderers will be fit and firing, Tony (Popovic) is known for his tough pre-seasons and with the experience in their squad I expect to see them at full-strength.”
With much of the focus on the injury sustained by Ronald Vargas in last week’s clash with Brisbane, Merrick says the Jets’ focus will be on defence.
“We’ve scored nine goals which is great, and we’ll always look to play an attacking, front foot style of football but we’ve conceded four goals and I think we can improve defensively,” added Merrick.
By the numbers:
- Newcastle leads the league in total shots (42), shots on target (joint-highest, 14) and goals scored (9) after three rounds this campaign.
- The Jets and Wanderers have each won just 11 corners so far this season, the joint-fewest of any teams in the competition.
- Roy O’Donovan can become the first player since Adam Taggart to score in 4 consecutive matches.
- Nigel Boogaard will equal the most A-League appearances as captain, with the experienced defender wearing the captain’s armband for the 44th time.
Sunday, 29 October 2017
Newcastle Jets v Western Sydney Wanderers
McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle
Kick-Off: 5pm (AEDT)
Referee: Chris Beath
TV Broadcast: Live coverage on FOX SPORTS 501 from 5:00pm (AEDT) and Sky Sport 3 (New Zealand)
Radio Broadcast: myfootballnation.com (SWR999), ABC Sydney, ABC Radio NSW, 1233 ABC Newcastle, Grandstand Digital, Online & via the ABC Listen App – A-League Live.
Join the conversation on Twitter using the hash-tag #NEWvWSW
Newcastle Jets Squad: 1.Jack DUNCAN (gk), 3.Jason HOFFMAN, 4.Nigel BOOGAARD (c), 5.Ben KANTAROVSKI, 6.Steven UGARKOVIC, 7.Dimitri PETRATOS, 9.Roy O’DONOVAN, 10.Wayne BROWN, 12.Mario SHABOW, 13.Ivan VUJICA, 15.Andrew NABBOUT, 16.Nick COWBURN, 17.Daniel GEORGIEVSKI, 18. Johnny KOUTROUMBIS, 20.Glen MOSS (gk), 22.Lachlan JACKSON, 24.Joe CHAMPNESS, 44.Nikolai TOPOR-STANLEY
**two to be omitted**
Ins: 12. Mario SHABOW (promoted), Johnny KOUTROUMBIS (promoted), 22. Lachlan JACKSON (promoted)
Outs: 8. Ronald VARGAS (ankle – indefinite)
Unavailable: Nil
Western Sydney Wanderers FC squad: 3.Jack CLISBY, 4.Josh RISDON, 5.Brendan HAMILL, 6.Jacob MELLING, 8.Roly BONEVACIA, 9.Oriol RIERA, 10.Àlvaro CEJUDO, 11.Brendon SANTALAB, 14.Jumpei KUSUKAMI, 15.Kearyn BACCUS, 16. Jaushua SOTIRIO, 18.Robert CORNTHWAITE (c), 19.Mark BRIDGE, 20.Vedran JANJETOVIC (gk), 22.Jonathan ASPROPOTAMITIS, 24.Raúl LLORENTE, 25.Chris HERD, 30.John HALL
**two to be omitted**
Ins: 3.Jack CLISBY (promoted), 16. Jaushua SOTIRIO (promoted)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 1.Jerrad TYSON (shoulder), 7.Steven LUSTICA (leg), 21.Marc TOKICH (international duty)
