Adelaide United will take on an in-form MetroStars in Round 19 of the PlayStation 4 National Premier League at TK Shutter Reserve on Saturday.
The Reds put on a show against Metro back in Round 8, where they came out on top with a superb 4-1 win at The Parks Football Centre.
Pacifique Niyongabire got things running in the 12th minute with an early lead and goals to Apostolos Stamatelopoulos, Lachlan Brook and Ryan Strain slayed any hope for MetroStars.
Adelaide will hope to reincarnate the performance, but Metro have become the competitions form team, with an FFA Cup win over Adelaide City, and they now sit in second on the table.
They held out City to a nil-all draw in Round 16, and were victorious over Campbelltown City last week, 3-0.
Adelaide United pulled off their Round 18 mission to climb out of the relegation zone after Hamish McCabe’s late winner against Adelaide Blue Eagles.
But they will need to keep pushing ahead of the last four games of the season, starting with MetroStars.
Young Reds’ Boss, Huss Skenderovic, said they will be looking to back up Round 8’s win, but it will be a good challenge this week.
“It is a game that should suit us, given the way MetroStars play, and they are structured well,” he said.
“They are a quality footballing team, and we usually do well against teams like that.
“It is a good challenge for us because every time we play a top team it lifts the morale, and we did beat them last time so it gives them a bit of confidence.
“And it tells them, yes, we beat them last time, and can we back it up and do it again.”
“But currently they are the most in-form team at the moment, with the FFA Cup and where they are on the ladder.
“So we will find it a bit more difficult at their ground but we have also been playing some very good football and we have demonstrated that we can match it and hurt teams.”
Skenderovic reiterated the fact of his side’s lack of finishing, in which most games this season it has come down to whether or not they execute in front of goal, as well as concentrating for the full game.
“It will again come down to whether we take the chances that we create, we always create but we find it harder to execute.
“That is something we have worked hard on, and we know that if we can finish those chances, we are always a chance to win.
“We also want to be mindful of maintaining our level of concentration for 90 minutes, as teams such as Metro will take advantage of that and punish us.”
The Young Reds face MetroStars at TK Shutter Reserve on Saturday, 22 July. Kick-off is 3:00pm, Reserves kick-off at 1:00pm.
