Sydney FC travel to Perth aiming to shoot down A-League leaders Glory

IT’S a Friday night blockbuster, when one of the A-League’s longest unbeaten runs comes up against a streak of form that points towards title success. Something has to give.

Tony Popovic won’t take Sydney’s wavering form for granted. (Will Russell/Getty Images)

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It’s a Friday night blockbuster, when one of the A-League’s longest unbeaten runs comes up against a streak of form that points towards title success. Something has to give.

Sydney FC travel west to face Perth on Friday in the knowledge their last defeat there came five years and one month before — a span of six A-League games and one FFA Cup tie, with six wins, 18 goals scored and just four conceded.

Though it’s a long way off the A-League record — Brisbane were undefeated away to the Mariners for 13 games over more than six years up to 2012 — to call it Perth a happy hunting ground for Sydney would be an understatement.

Tony Popovic won’t take Sydney’s wavering form for granted. (Will Russell/Getty Images)

In fact their form generally against Perth has been extraordinary since that last defeat at NIB Stadium in November 2013.

In the 16 games since, the Sky Blues have lost just two (both at Allianz Stadium), scoring 44 times and conceding only 11 in the process.

For years Glory have struggled against Sydney — but they will bring their own weight of statistics to bear on Friday night, thanks to an eight-match unbeaten run that has lifted them to the top of the table.

Perth are only the sixth team to be undefeated after eight games in the A-League, and only the fourth team to have more 20 points after eight games.

A big result in Perth would do wonders for Corica. (AAP Image/Brendon Thorne)

It has been a remarkable start to Tony Popovic’s time at Glory since his appointment in pre-season, and knocking off the Premiers on Friday night would confirm his side’s title aspirations — but it would also do much to salve his own chequered record against Sydney.

In the 15 times Popovic has coached against the Sky Blues, all in charge of Western Sydney, Popovic could boast only four wins and four draws, and there’s no doubt that will motivate him on Friday night.

Even with a six-point margin on the Sky Blues, though, Popovic remains as guarded as ever in his public discussions of his next opponents.

“Sydney are where you’d expect them to be, they’re up there,” he said. “We’ve had a fantastic start so you may feel there’s a little gap — but in one game that changes.

“They’ve got too much quality to write them off — we certainly haven’t. They’ve got 14 points from eight games, that’s not bad. I think they’re OK.

“We’ve got a chance to go into Christmas on top, but to do that we’ve got to win again on Friday.”

Meanwhile Friday night’s game will mark the day that Socceroos fullback Rhyan Grant becomes Sydney’s first player to notch up a decade of service for the club.

It will be exactly 10 years to the day since a 17-year-old Grant took the field as a substitute against the same opposition at Allianz Stadium.

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