Branko Culina reckons Juninho could get a start against Wellington Phoenix despite tearing his shoulder tendons off the bone a couple of weeks ago.

And Super Mario, Newcastle Jets new signing Mario Jardel, looks like he will finally get to slip into the shiny gold for the first time this weekend, even if it is just for five minutes spent loitering offside…

Plus of course all the seconded Socceroos and Olyroos are back from international duties to return to their domestic tasks. Hopefully the FFA has learned a lesson and will schedule a break next time.

Central Coast Mariners are of course once again guaranteed to be topping the table come Monday morning with their so far perfect season of three wins from three.

But the rest of the ladder is still wide open. And the big question is whether anyone else apart from the Mariners or Jets will be able to find the killer touch in front of goal to win their first game of the season.

Sydney FC v Wellington Phoenix
Friday, September 14, 2007
Kick-Off 8:00pm AEST (10:00pm NZST, 7:30pm ACST, 6:00pm AWST)
Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney

Sydney need a win badly. The fans know it, the players know it and Branko knows it. He admits he’s feeling the pressure but still insists we’ve yet to see the best of his side.

This week could be the true test of that. With virtually a full-strength squad, albeit with a patched together Juninho, at home against the side that’s rooted to the bottom of the ladder, there’ll be no excuses for anything but a win.

Phoenix will be intending to deny them that – but more importantly they’ve got their own point to prove. They’ve played good football since the season’s start with barely anything to show for it after back-to-back losses.

Beyond just their brave fightback against Melbourne Victory on the opening weekend, Phoenix have played well and are worth more than their current solitary point, but they’ll have their work cut out against a motivated Sydney side.

The clash of the cellar dwellers is shaping up to be the game of the round…

Stats, Facts & Milestones
Sydney FC pair Clint Bolton and Iain Fyfe are both set to make their 50th appearance in the Hyundai A-League, the first Sydney players to hit the milestone. Bolton will also make his 350th appearance at national league level in Australia, having already made 300 appearances in the old NSL (with Brisbane Strikers, Sydney Olympic and Parramatta Power).

Sydney FC Squad
1.Clint Bolton (gk), 2.Iain Fyfe, 3.Nikolas Tsattalios, 4.Mark Rudan, 6.Tony Popovic (c), 7.Robbie Middleby, 8.Ruben Zadkovich, 9.David Zdrilic, 10.Steve Corica, 11.Brendon Santalab, 12.Patrick, 14.Alex Brosque, 15.Terry McFlynn, 16.Mark Milligan, 18.Adam Casey, 19.Michael Enfield, 21.Adam Biddle, 22.Juninho, 23.Ufuk Talay, 30.Matthew Nash (gk). *five to be omitted

In: Clint Bolton (return from Qantas Socceroos duty), Nikolas Tsattalios (promoted), Ruben Zadkovich (return from Qantas Under 23s duty), Brendon Santalab (return from injury), Alex Brosque (return from Qantas Socceroos duty), Mark Milligan (return from Qantas Under 23s duty), Adam Biddle (promoted), Juninho (return from injury - decision to be made after final training session).

Out: Robbie Cattanach (released), Matthew Jurman (released), Michael Herbet (released).

Unavailable: Ben Vidaic (thigh - one week), Jacob Timpano (thigh - two weeks), Ivan Necevski (ankle - four weeks).

Wellington Phoenix squad
1.Mark Paston (gk), 2.Jeremy Christie, 3.Tony Lochhead, 5.Karl Dodd, 6.Tim Brown, 7.Ross Aloisi (c), 8.Vaughan Coveny, 9.Shane Smeltz, 10.Michael Ferrante, 11.Daniel, 12.Richard Johnson, 13.Steven Old, 14.Steven O’dor, 15.George Paladini, 20.Glen Moss (gk), 21.Felipe. *One To Be Omitted

In: Mark Paston (Return From Concussion), George Paladini (Promoted), Tim Brown (Return From Illness)

Out: Royce Brownlie (Omitted), Jacob Spoonley (gk, Omitted)

Unavailable: Vince Lia (Thigh – 1 Week), Cleberson (Omitted), Costa Barbarouses (Omitted), Greg Draper (Omitted)


Newcastle Jets v Adelaide United
Saturday, 15 September 2007
Kick-Off 7:00pm AEST (9:00PM NZST, 6:30pm ACDT, 5:00pm AWDT)
EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
Radio: ABC 1233 Newcastle (1233AM) – www.abc.net.au/newcastle

The Jets claimed their first win last week with another freekick, this time from Matt Thompson after Joel Griffiths’s spectacular scoring effort the week before, but they otherwise looked unlikely to trouble the back of the net.

That could all change this weekend. Super Mario’s set for his debut and while we might not see too many scorching runs into the box, he could be the ultimate poacher and pounce on every opportunity.

It’s a welcome boost to Newcastle’s firepower upfront and hopefully he’ll have enough stamina to last longer than half an hour.

Adelaide will have a re-shaped defence without skipper Michael Valkanis who is ruled out for the rest of the season with a knacked knee. Marquee star Paul Agostino will take the armband in his absence.

With the return of Bruce Djite from the Olyroos, but minus the deadly skills of Nathan Burns who's out with a quad strain, they will be looking to put the Jets defence under pressure from the start and get off the mark with an important away win.

The stats are all in Adelaide’s favour – from their past seven meetings, United have won four, including two victories in enemy territory.

Adelaide haven’t been short of goals either this season, matching league leaders the Mariners for strikes, but negligent defence has turned wins into draws or defeat to keep them pegged low in the table.

Stats, Facts & Milestones
Adelaide defender Richie Alagich is set to make his 250th appearance at national league level in Australia. Alagich, whose sister Dianne is currently with the Matildas competing at the FIFA Women's World Cup 2007 in China, started his national league career in the old NSL with West Adelaide, where he stayed from 1993 to 1999. He also played at South Melbourne (1999-2001) and Brisbane Strikers (2001-2003) before joining Adelaide United. Also in the match, Angelo Costanzo (Adelaide United) will make his 50th A-League appearance.

Newcastle Jets Squad
1.Ante Covic (gk), 2.Adam Griffiths, 3.Jade North (c), 4.Steve Eagleton, 5.Stuart Musialik, 6 Andrew Durante, 8.Matt Thompson, 9.Joel Griffiths, 10.Denni Rocha Dos Santos, 11.Tarek Elrich, 12.Paul Kohler, 13.Adam D’Apuzzo, 14.Jobe Wheelhouse, 18 Noel Spencer, 19.Mark Bridge, 20.Ben Kennedy (gk), 21.Mario Jardel, 23.Jason Hoffman.

In: Stuart Musialik (Returns From National Duty), Andrew Durante (Returns From Injury), Ben Kennedy (gk) (Returns From Injury), Mario Jardel (New Signing)

Out: Jorge Drovandi (Not Selected), Scott Tunbridge (Not Selected), Troy Hearfield (Not Selected), Stephen Laybutt (Injury), Ben McNamara (gk) (Not Selected)

Unavailable: Jorge Drovandi, Scott Tunbridge, Troy Hearfield, Stephen Laybutt (Injury), Ben Mcnamara (gk)

Adelaide United Squad
1.Daniel Beltrame, (gk), 2.Richie Alagich, 4.Angelo Costanzo, 6.Cassio, Lucas Pantelis, 8.Kristian Sarkies, 9.Paul Agostino (c), 11.Bruce Djite, 13.Travis Dodd (v-c), 14.Shaun Ontong, 15.Jonas Salley, 17.Isyan Erdogan, 18.Robert Cornthwaite, 20.Robert Bajic (gk), 21.Jason Spagnuolo, 22.Diego. * 2 to be omitted

In: Bruce Djite (return from National Team duty), Kristian Sarkies (return from National Team duty), Shaun Ontong (return from National Team duty),

Out: Michael Valkanis (Knee - Season), Bobby Petta (calf – 1 week), Nathan Burns (Quad)

Unavailable: Dez Giraldi (quad – 2 weeks), Milan Susak (hamstring – 1 week)


Melbourne Victory v Central Coast Mariners
Sunday, 16 September 2007
Kick-Off 5:00pm AEST (7:00pm NZST, 4:30pm ACST, 3:00pm AWST)
Telstra Dome, Melbourne
Radio: SEN1116 (Melbourne) 1116am - www.sen.com.au

Another showpiece match for the round with Mariners aiming to build on their early shock success, and Melbourne Victory desperately needing to get back into the fight by putting points on the board.

Central Coast look unstoppable with balance from front to back – strong in defence, quick in midfield and devastating in front of goal. While other clubs (apart from Adelaide) are struggling to find a reliable striker, the Mariners boast not one, but three.

The combination of Mrdja, Petrovski and Kwasnik upfront should strike fear into any A-League defence – even Victory’s.

Throw Dean Heffernan back into the mix again this week with his runs from left back into attack and the Mariners won’t see any reason why they can’t emerge with yet another win, even against the reigning champions on their home turf.

Victory are still adapting to life without Fred and hoping either Kaz Patafta or Carlos Hernandez can fill the gap vacated by the South American.

But so far the side is simply stuttering in front of goal, with the lowest number of shots on goal in the league. Even their ace marquee star Archie Thompson has so far only had one crack.

With the Mariners yet to concede a single goal and undefeated so far this season, they go into the match as unlikely favourites – but will have to guard against complacency.

Stats, Facts & Milestones
A remarkable co-incidence will take place at Telstra Dome with the captains of Melbourne Victory and Central Coast Mariners both set to make their 450th appearance at national league level. The career of Melbourne's Kevin Muscat so far has seen him play at Australian clubs Sunshine (9 league appearances), Heidelberg (18), South Melbourne (73) and Melbourne Victory (40), English sides Crystal Palace (53), Wolverhampton (180) and Millwall (53), and Rangers (23) in Scotland. Tony Vidmar's 449 appearances to date consists of stints at Adelaide City (149 league appearances) in the old NSL, Ekeren (9) in Belgium, NAC Breda (82) in the Netherlands, Scottish giants Rangers (107), English clubs Middlesbrough (12) and Cardiff City (73) plus 17 A-League appearances so far with Central Coast Mariners. Muscat and Vidmar are the only current Hyundai A-League players to have made more than 400 appearances at national league level.

Melbourne Victory Squad
1.Michael Theoklitos (gk), 2.Kevin Muscat (c), 3.Daniel Piorkowski, 6.Steve Pantelidis, 7.Matthew Kemp, 8.Grant Brebner, 9.Daniel Allsopp, 10.Archie Thompson, 11.Joseph Keenan, 12.Rodrigo Vargas, 13.Kaz Patafta, 14.Adrian Caceres, 15.Leandro Love, 16.Carlos Hernandez, 18.Leigh Broxham, 20.Eugene Galekovic, 21.Sebastian Ryall. *Two To Be Omitted

In: Steve Pantelidis (Returns From Injury), Archie Thompson (Return From National Team Duty), Joseph Keenan (Returns From Injury), Leigh Broxham (Return From National Team Duty).

Out: Daniel Vasilevski (Not Selected), Evan Berger (Not Selected).

Unavailable: Ljubo Milicevic (Knee - 2 Weeks)

Central Coast Mariners Squad
1.Matthew Trott (gk), 2.Matt Simon, 5.Bradley Porter, 6.Andre Gumprecht, 7.John Hutchinson, 8.Dean Heffernan, 9.Nik Mrdja, 10.Tom Pondeljak, 11.Damien Brown, 13.Tony Vidmar, 15.Andrew Clark, 16.Nigel Boogaard, 17.Matthew Osman, 19.Adam Kwasnik, 20.Danny Vukovic (gk), 22.Sasho Petrovski, 23.Mile Jedinak, 30.Andrew Redmayne (gk) *Three To Be Omitted

In: Bradley Porter (Returns From National Team Duty), 8. Dean Heffernan (Returns From National Team Duty), Danny Vukovic (Returns From National Team Duty).

Out: None

Unavailable: 18. Alex Wilkinson (Knee – Indefinite)


Perth Glory v Queensland Roar
Sunday, 16 September 2007
Kick-Off 5:00pm AWST (9:00pm NZST, 7:00pm AEST, 6:30pm ACDT)
Members Equity Stadium, Perth
Radio: 6PR 882AM (Perth) www.mytalk.com.au; SportFM (Perth); 90.5FM www.905.com.au

Perth Glory matches tend to make your heart sink these days.

Three games into the season and they’ve yet to score and yet to concede a goal. It’s the kind of form that can just about bore them into the finals, but, jeez, it’s like squeezing lemon juice into your eyes to watch.

Equally though Queensland Roar’s form has been just as frustrating. An occasionally overstrong defence – which has already seen them get two red cards this season – and a dogged midfield combine to service their attack well.

But they just keep failing to convert all those chances into goals. Put the two teams together and it has all the makings of yet another Perth 0-0 draw unless Frank Farina’s spent the week dedicated to shooting practice. Please God, let it be so…

Stats, Facts & Milestones
With three nil-all draws in their previous three A-League matches, Perth Glory could achieve an extremely rare occurrence should they play another goal-less match against Queensland. Four consecutive scoreless draws by the same team has never occurred before at national league level in Australia in more than 6000 matches. Even in the English top tier, in more than 44,000 matches since 1888, it has only occurred four times.

Perth Glory Squad
50.Tommi Tomich (gk), 2.Nikolai Topor-Stanley, 4.Simon Colosimo, 5.Jamie Harnwell, 6.Dino Djulbic, 7.Anthony Danze, 8.David Micevski, 9.Mate Dragicevic, 10.Billy Celeski, 12.Leo Bertos, 13.Nikita Rukavytsya, 14.Jamie Coyne, 15.Mitchell Prentice, 16.Nick Rizzo, 17.Jimmy Downey, 19.Naum Sekulovski, 21.James Robinson, 30.Tando Velaphi *Three To Be Omitted

In: Nikolai Topor-Stanley (Return From National Duty), Simon Colosimo (Return From National Duty), David Micevski (Return From National Duty), Billy Celeski (Return From National Duty), Tando Velaphi (Return From National Duty)

Out: Jordan Simpson (End Of Short Term Contract), Tyler Simpson (End Of Short Term Contract), Danny Milosevic (End Of Short Term Contract).

Unavailable: David Tarka (Hamstring – Season), Jason Petkovic (Leg – 6 Weeks), Stan Lazaridis, Hayden Foxe (Knee – 6 Weeks)

Queensland Roar Squad
1.Liam Reddy (gk), 4.Craig Moore, 5.Josh McCloughan, 7.Michael Zullo, 9.Simon Lynch, 10.Ante Milicic, 11.Reinaldo, 14.Ben Griffin, 15.Matt McKay, 16.Hyuk-Su Seo, 17.Mitch Nichols, 18.Danny Tiatto,19. Sasa Ognenovski, 23.Marcinho, 30.Griffin McMaster (gk).

In: Sasa Ognenovski (Return From Ankle Injury).

Out: Massimo Murdocca (Thigh Injury – 1 Week).

Unavailable: Matt Ham (Shoulder Injury – Out For Season), Andrew Packer (Calf Injury – 4 Weeks).