The Wanderers will be looking to convert their good form into competition points when they make the trip across the Nullarbor to play Perth Glory in a Round 10 Hyundai A-League game at HBF Park on Saturday night.
Though winless in their past four games, the results are not indicative of the quality of football and effort the Red & Black have been putting in over the past five weeks.
Certainly, it is time Lady Luck smiled on the team following a disappointing run of tough decisions against them.
And now is as good a time as any to turn things around in an away match that the Wanderers are more than capable of winning, especially given the fact they beat the West Australians in an FFA Cup encounter back in August.
The Wanderers have a decent record against the defending Hyundai A-League Premiers having won eight and drawn seven of their 21 clashes, including two wins and four draws in Perth.
Still, the Red & Black will be looking to reverse recent Hyundai A-League results against Glory as they are winless in their past five games against them. The last time they beat Perth was back on Round 1 of the 2017/18 season.
Based on their recent performances, the Red & Black are ready to bounce back.
The confidence and spirit remains high and the commitment of head coach Markus Babbel’s players can never be questioned. As ever, Babbel remains highly optimistic the team is on the right path.
There are good signs that German midfielder Nicolai Muller is finding his feet. He turned in a terrific performance against Wellington Phoenix last week, scoring his first goal for the club.
Muller, who has taken a little time to adapt to the conditions in Australia, was a constant threat to the Kiwis with his skill and ability to get into decent attacking positions and, with a little bit more luck, could have ended up with a brace of goals.
With Muller leading the way, the Wanderers created a host of chances in the first 45 minutes against Phoenix, but couldn’t take full advantage and it subsequently came back to haunt them.
Defensively, the side has been solid and will look to take advantage of the fact that they have conceded just two first-half goals this season.
Popovic, who led the Wanderers to great success for five seasons, has been at the helm of Perth since last season, taking them to Premier’s Plate glory before they fell to Sydney FC in the grand final.
This season Glory started slowly, but showed they are still a force to be reckoned with after a comfortable 3-0 win over Melbourne City last week.
