Wellington Pheonix v Sydney FC betting preview

Sydney make the trip West this weekend to face a struggling Wellington side of which the stats give them little reason to fear.

Pheonix; normally dependant on their impressive home form at the Westpac stadium, have failed to advantage of home support this season. The fortress like status the Westpac's developed in the last two seasons in which Pheonix have reached the finals has shown severe signs on crumbling.

1 win in 4 at home for Pheonix, will make pleasant reading their sky blue opponents, who have been rampant on the road in their first four away games taking 8 of a possible 12 points. Luxbet have placed odds of 2.40 on an away win.

In the 13 prior meetings between the teams, Sydney have come out victors 8 times compared to Wellington's 4. Sydney's 8 th win came in a 2-0 home win over the Pheonix in the penultimate game of last season.

A brighter light is now beginning to shine on Wellington now though after the opening weeks of doom and gloom, through the return of several crucial first team players. The creativity of prolific English-born striker and fans favourite Paul Ifill, should return to the starting XI after making an impact as a substitute in last week's draw against Adelaide. Ifill could be the key to Wellington's season, so it's no surprise he's got short odds with Sportsbet to be an anytime goalscorer at 3.00

Pheonix will still be without 22 year old frontman Mirjan Pavlovic, but midfielder Vince Lia should line up for his 2 nd match of the season to player alongside Tim Brown after a long injury lay off. Pheonix will hope this will strengthen them in the middle of the park in time to face an improving Socceroo Star Brett Emerton, whose slowly beginning to prove his worth this season after a stunning 88 th minute free kick he netted against the Mariners last weekend.

Sky Blue coach Lavicka will want to make sure that his team won't require such a late show as they did against the Mariners. Sydney's main weakness has been their tendancy to fall asleep in the first half of games and give themselves too much to pull back as they did in their last match against Central Coast. Wellington will be encouraged by Sydney slow starting habits, plus two games unbeaten, draws they may be, suggest that second bottom Pheonix are beginning to turn the corner.

While Ifill may be the danger man for Pheonix, Nicky Carle is this season's second top goalscorer with 4 goals to his name. The Australian Marquee player makes regular surges into the box despite being a midfielder by trade. His flair and tenacity is a threat to any defence in the league. TheiIn form Carle after scoring last week is at 3.60 with SportsBet to grab a goal at anytime.

Big Favourites Sydney are likely to take an unchanged squad across the Tasman sea this weekend, and Lavicka will have spent the past week drilling into his players to ensure they're playing in top gear throughout the 90 minutes and emerge from the tunnel all guns blazing.

Wellington will be anxious to grab 3 points at home which could be critical in keeping their bid to finish in the top 6 alive, despite the season still being in it's early stages. The return of some key players should boost their attacking presence, which could make this encounter closer to call than the paperwork suggests, with CentreBet putting a draw at odds of 3.30.