Glory’s New Year’s Day clash with Western United at Macedonia Park (kick-off at 4pm, tickets HERE) could develop into an end-to-end thriller according to Head Coach Alex Epakis.
The women in purple will head into the game looking to bounce back from Tuesday’s narrow defeat to league leaders Melbourne City by ending United’s 100% start to what is their maiden Liberty A-League campaign.
And Epakis believes the home Members and fans may need to hang onto their hats as both sides look to go forward with pace and purpose.
“I think it’ll be a very transitional game as they do like to attack quickly,” he said.
“They’re not a slow possession, build-up-based team which means when they do get the ball they go forward and when we get the ball, we’re going to try and do the same.
“So it’s going to be end to end.
“Although they’ve come in as a new team, a lot of them have played together at NPL level for the last few seasons and they’ve topped that up with some top-tier recruits.
“So credit to them for that.
“But we also know that we are in a good place with our own business and while they’re coming here in good form, we’re coming in with a really fixated mindset on getting a result and I’m really optimistic about what we can achieve.”
While predicting plenty of attacking fireworks on Sunday, the Head Coach was also quick to praise the way his charges defended against a Melbourne City side which has scored eight more goals than any other club in the competition thus far this term.
“We didn’t get the three points, but we did take away a lot of growth from that game,” he said, “and the quick turnaround gives us the opportunity to put that growth into practice in what is another big game.
“They [City] have got attacking threats all over the field and coming off the bench.
“That’s not to say we weren’t an attacking threat either; I thought we created some good chances.
“But defensively as a structure, we were compact.
“We knew that we were going to have to be disciplined for 90 minutes and manage the transition moments when they did break through us, but the players were very, very good as a collective without the ball.”
In terms of early team news ahead of the Western United clash, Epakis confirmed that Rylee Baisden is set to return to the squad after missing out on Tuesday having pulled up sore after her two-goal display against Canberra in Round 5.
Sunday will mark the first ever meeting between the two clubs and the Victorians will head west looking to make it five successive wins having already accounted for Wellington Phoenix, Melbourne Victory, Melbourne City and Adelaide United.
Chloe Logarzo, Sydney Cummings and Jessica McDonald have each grabbed two goals this term, while Hannah Keane has contributed three assists.
Match Details
Liberty A-League 2022/23 Season Round 8
Perth Glory v Western United
Macedonia Park
Sunday 1 January 2023
Kick-off: 4pm WST
Perth Glory Squad: 1.Morgan AQUINO (gk), 3.Kim CARROLL, 4.Natasha RIGBY (c), 6.Tijan MCKENNA, 7.Liz ANTON, 8.Hana LOWRY, 9.Demi KOULIZAKIS, 10.Susan PHONSONGKHAM, 11.Rylee BAISDEN, 12.Sofia SAKALIS, 13.Sarah CAIN, 15.Cyera HINTZEN, 16.Isabella WALLHEAD, 17.Abbey GREEN, 18.Sadie LAWRENCE, 20.Sarah LANGMAN (gk), 21.Ella MASTRANTONIO, 22.Claudia MIHOCIC, 23.Alana JANCEVSKI, 42.Gabriella COLEMAN
Ins: 6.Tijan MCKENNA, 11.Rylee BAISDEN, 17.Abbey GREEN, 22.Claudia MIHOCIC
Outs: None
Unavailable: 24.Milan HAMMOND (injured)
Western United squad: 1. Alyssa DALL’OSTE (gk), 2. Stacey PAPADOPOULOS, 5. Aimee MEDWIN, 6. Chloe LOGARZO, 7. Francesca IERMANO, 8. Jessica McDONALD, 9. Hannah KEANE, 10. Kahli JOHNSON, 11. Emma ROBERS, 14. Natasha DAKIC, 15. Adriana TARANTO, 16. Melissa TARANTO, 18. Aleksandra SINCLAIR, 19. Tyla Jay VLAJNIC, 20. Sydney CUMMINGS, 21. Hillary BEALL (gk), 22. Alana CERNE, 24. Julia SARDO
Ins: 2. Stacey PAPADOPOULOS, 18. Aleksandra SINCLAIR
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 4. Jaclyn SAWICKI (injured), 12. Harriet WITHERS (injured)
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