Preview: Perth Glory vs. Wellington Phoenix - prediction, team news, lineups

Perth Glory play host to Wellington Phoenix on Sunday with the two teams locked on the same points in the A-League standings.

The home side have played one game fewer than Phoenix, but there is an opportunity to move clear of the bottom two with victory at HBF Park.

Match preview

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Having collected just four points from as many home games in succession, Wellington Phoenix were under pressure to add to that total when they faced Western United on March 11.

However, a dramatic 3-2 victory, with the decisive goal coming in the final minute, ended a run of two consecutive defeats, moving the club into ninth spot in the table.

Phoenix have now gone six games without registering a clean sheet, but Ufuk Talay will be encouraged ahead of their next fixture.

Ulises Davila has scored three goals in his last four outings, taking his tally for the campaign to seven strikes in 15.

As far as Perth Glory are concerned, they head into this contest having prevailed in just one of their most recent nine fixtures.

That one success came at lowly Newcastle Jets at the end of last month, with the corresponding fixture on Sunday ending in a 1-1 draw.

Despite partly getting back on track, Richard Garcia knows that he is under pressure to turn things around with the club at risk of losing touch with the mid-table spots.

While they have improved defensively in recent games, Glory have only registered one strike in their last 336 minutes of football.

Top scorer Bruno Fornaroli has failed to score in four outings since March 27.

Team News

Joel Chianese scored immediately after his introduction in the last game, putting the 31-year-old in contention to start this fixture.

Brandon Wilson and Chris Ikonomidis will also be considered for roles in the Glory XI, with Andy Keogh potentially dropping out as he continues his search for his first goal of the season.

Talay opted against making any substitutions during Phoenix's 3-2 victory over Western United until the third minute of added-on time.

With that in mind, the same 11 players could start this game with Ben Waine leading the line after his last-gasp winner.

Perth Glory possible starting lineup:
Reddy; Geria, Aspropotamitis, Lachman, Ota; Chianese, Timmins, Kilkenny, Armiento; Fornaroli, Keogh

Wellington Phoenix possible starting lineup:
Sail; Fenton, Payne, Laws, Sutton; Devlin, Lewis; Sotirio, Davila, Ball; Waine

We say: Perth Glory 1-1 Wellington Phoenix

Already sitting clear of the bottom two, we expect both teams to push hard for maximum points at the weekend. Nevertheless, the extra urgency in the final third may lead to issues in defence, and we are backing an entertaining draw to be played out at HBF Park.