What you didn’t know about A-League GF

PREDICTING what will happen in Sunday’s A-League grand final is fraught with danger.

But from Brisbane’s incredible successful goalkeeper to Western Sydney’s unpredictable goalscorers, here are 14 fast facts that should give you a better chance of tipping a winner when the Roar takes on the Wanderers.

Brisbane Roar

— Michael Theo is the competition’s most successful ever player and a Roar win on Sunday will see him claim his fifth A-League championship in eight years. He won two with Melbourne Victory (2007 and 2009) and two with Brisbane Roar (2011 and 2012).

Brisbane Roar goalkeeper Michael Theo. Picture: Jono Searle. Source: News Corp Australia

— Brisbane will become the first team to win three A-League titles if it gets past the Wanderers on Sunday. Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC each has won two championships.

— The Roar has a poor record against Western Sydney, having won just once, losing four times and drawing two of the pair’s seven previous clashes.

— The Roar scooped the A-League Awards this week, with midfielder Thomas Broich claiming his second Johnny Warren medallist for player of the year, and Mike Mulvey winning Coach of the Year.

— Liam Miller was part of the Perth Glory team that controversially lost the 2012 grand final to Brisbane, but on Sunday the Irishman will start in the Roar’s midfield.

— With 90 chances created this season, Roar’s German import Broich is far and away the A-League’s most dangerous player. The Wanderers best creator is Shinji Ono with 60 chances created.

— Mike Mulvey was under pressure to keep his job last season, following a mid-season slump. Roar fans are certainly glad he wasn’t sacked after the Englishman led the side to the Premiership by a whopping 10-point margin ahead of the Wanderers this season.

The band is back together for a grand final edition of the Fox Football Podcast — with a few special guests dropping in as well. Adam Peacock, Simon Hill and Brenton Speed are in the studio, where they are joined by Wanderers fanatic Ian ‘Dicko’ Dickson, who dropped by for a chat too, and on the line by Brisbane Roar defender Jade North. Daniel Garb is on deck again to talk Mourinho, Liverpool, City and all things EPL & Socceroos.

Western Sydney Wanderers

— The Roar will be out for revenge after seeing its finals campaign ended by the Wanderers 2-0 in the semi-finals last season.

— The Wanderers will be without grand final specialist Mark Bridge, who is injured. The attacker has played in three deciders, scoring goals in two triumphs (Newcastle in 2008 and Sydney FC in 2010) and was part of Western Sydney’s losing side last season.

— Sunday will be Japan legend Shinji Ono’s last A-League game. The midfielder spent two seasons in Australia as was part of the big three marquees of 2012 — alongside Alessandro Del Piero and Emile Heskey.

— The Wanderers will have no time to celebrate a win or mourn a loss after Sunday’s decider, with just a three-day gap before they travel to Japan to face Sanfrecce Hiroshima in the first leg of their Asian Champions League round of 16 match.

— Should Western Sydney win, it will become the sixth club — after Sydney FC, Melbourne Victory, Newcastle Jets, Brisbane Roar and Central Coast Mariners — to win the A-League.

— Good luck guessing who might get on the scoresheet for Western Sydney on Sunday. The Wanderers have had nine different goalscorers in their past three matches in all competitions.

— The two men of the touchline have vastly contrasting pedigrees. Wanderers mentor Tony Popovic is a Socceroos legend and represented his country 58 times, including at the 2006 World Cup, while he also played in the Premier League for Crystal Palace. Roar boss Mulvey worked his way up the youth coaching ranks and his only playing career consisted of a handful of appearances in the Queensland Premier League.

Western Sydney coach Tony Popovic and Brisbane coach Mike Mulvey. Picture: Brett Costello. Source: News Corp Australia

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.

from FOXSPORTS.com.au | Football http://ift.tt/1iHGwuG