Our NPL NSW side will look to fend off the challengers to their place at the top of the table when they host Sydney Olympic this Saturday.
Despite being the top team in the competition, the Wanderers are on a two game losing streak, after a late comeback against Sydney United fell short last weekend.
A clinical United side led 3-0 before the introduction of Adam Bugarija off the bench changed the game – as did a red card for United – Bugarija scored twice to create a grandstand finish, but the home side held on for a 3-2 win.
This result combined with Rockdale and APIA Leichhardt winning means they are a point ahead of the former and two points ahead of the latter going into this weekend’s matches.
Though the season has been a hugely positive one to date, Andrew Christiansen will want his side to reassert their authority on the competition and have his senior players like Aydan Hammond, Zac Sapsford and Nathaneal Blair once again light up the league.
They face an Olympic side, led by former Wanderers assistant Labinot Haliti, whose season has been marked by inconsistency, with highs such as a 6-0 win over Sydney United punctuated with losses to both newly promoted sides.
The fluctuations in form mean the side from Belmore are ninth in the table and already 10 points off the finals places despite having a star studded side with the likes of Roy O’Donovan, Ziggy Gordon, as well as former Wanderers in George Antonis, Teng Kuol and Gianni Di Pizio.
The season series between the sides was split last year, with the Wanderers winning a thriller at Wanderers Football Park 3-2 thanks to a late Nathaneal Blair winner, before a late show from Sydney Olympic in the return game saw them take home a 3-1 win.
NPL NSW Round 14
Western Sydney Wanderers FC vs Sydney Olympic FC
Saturday 11th May 2024, 7pm
Wanderers Football Park
