The Young Wanderers travel to face NWS Spirit looking to keep hold of their top four spot in the NPL NSW table.
Important match information can be found here.
Player absentees in the form of enforced breaks, player departures and international duty are beginning to take its toll on a spirited Wanderers side, who have fallen to narrow defeats in their last two games with an inexperienced lineup even by Academy standards.
They fell to a heartbreaking defeat on the road against Rockdale despite having almost an entirely changed starting eleven, before being hit by a counter-attacking Central Coast side in midweek, losing in a 5-3 goal-fest.
The Wanderers’ hot start to the season means they are still all but guaranteed to finish the weekend in the top four regardless of results, but Andrew Christiansen knows his side needs to return to winning ways soon, especially with a kinder run of fixtures fast approaching.
The senior players who have been present have been pulling their weight, with Marcus Younis and Dylan Scicluna starring in recent weeks.
Younis scored twice and got an assist in midweek, whilst Scicluna bagged two assists, as he continues to thrive in a more advanced role in the side.
They come up against a Spirit side who lost during the week after three crucial wins in four games, aiding their fight against relegation.
They defeated our crosstown rivals and more notably Marconi Stallions to lift themselves to 18 points for the season, but were brought back down to earth with a thud in a 3-0 away loss against Sydney United.
The Wanderers did get the better of Spirit in the reverse fixture; despite the game being 1-1 heading into the final 10 minutes, the Red and Black blew their opponents away with three goals in 11 minutes to secure a 4-1 victory, which was the start of an eight game winning run for the Wanderers.
The side would love a similar result to kick start a similar run of form at a pivotal point of the season.
NPL NSW Round 19
NWS Spirit FC vs Western Sydney Wanderers FC
Saturday 15th June, 5:30pm
Christie Park
