West Adelaide v Adelaide Blue Eagles
PlayStation 4 National Premier League South Australia   - Round 7

When: Saturday, April 16th. Kick-off 3.00 pm
Where: Adelaide Shores Football Centre, West Beach

Form:

West Adelaide: W D L

Adelaide Blue Eagles: W W L

Preview:

West Adelaide will be looking to get their season back on track when they play host to Adelaide Blue Eagles at Adelaide Shores Football Centre, in the Round 7 fixture of the PlayStation 4 National Premier League South Australia.

Both teams come into the “2015 Grand Final” replay game having suffered disappointing defeats in their last outing; West Adelaide going down to Adelaide United, while the Blue Eagles conceded a late goal against the Croydon Kings.

West Adelaide who promised so much at the start of this season find themselves spiralling down the ladder with some indifferent performances, which makes this week’s encounter against their cross town rival a must win game, sentiments echoed by stylish attacking midfielder Perry Mitris.

“This is a game that we must walk away with three points to keep our season on track” Mitris said.

“We have lost games we should have won – we haven’t been able to convert our chances, and close off games”

Mitris went on to say that he expected Blue Eagles would be looking for some revenge after last year’s Grand Final loss.

“Blue Eagles are a good side and we expect them to come at us hard. It will be a tough battle and they will have some lingering motivation”

West Adelaide will welcome back play maker Ricardo Di Silva who was sorely missed last week. While captain Eli Vlassis sporting a moon boot at training, will be on the sidelines for at least another four weeks with an ankle injury.

The Blue Eagles forwards will have to make the most of their goal scoring opportunities that may come their way, as they confront a miser West Adelaide defence which has only conceded five goals in six rounds.

Leading PlayStation 4 NPL goal scorer Yvan Boyokino has been in scintillating form in front of goal and he can thank his midfield teammates Alemayo Kebede, Damien Crettenden and Adam Harris for the quality assists.

On the other end of the park in defence, Blue Eagles’ coach Gianluca Lagati will have to burn the midnight oil to come up with a competitive line up as he juggles his squad to cover injuries to his defenders.

 “We have two quality defenders that will be missing this week, so I have to change the structure to cover those players” Lagati said

“I need to get the balance right, we have a good offense, but we have to be solid defensively. We are the second highest scoring team in the league so we know we can score, we have to be tight when we defend”

Lagati is expecting a hard physical game, and wants his chargers to be mentally switched on from the start to avoid dropping vital points.

In the context of the season this game becomes a six-point game for either of these two sides, as they try to manoeuvre themselves for a top six berth.

Expect plenty of heat in this encounter from two talented sides in the completion, who will be searching for an inspirational win.

Written by:   Joe Pangallo 5RTI Sports 531am