- Blacktown Spartans are favored to win with two wins in a row, including a 4-1 hammering of Western City Rangers.
- Bankstown City Lions sit in third place with 32 points from 18 games.
Spartans are the structure to Lions’ intensity
Blacktown Spartans sit at the top of the New South Wales League 1 table with 37 points from 18 matches while Bankstown City Lions are third with 32 from 18. So, both clubs are very much on the promotion chase and the added prize of local bragging rights should make for a tense and tense game this Friday.
James Demetriou has built his Blacktown squad to be compact and well organised defensively with a 'squad-first' mentality that should be able to cope with injuries and suspensions. They are not a 'full throttle' team, rather their style is built upon controlling the build-up and being pragmatic during transition. The Spartans have won two, drawn two and lost one of their last five New South Wales League 1 games.
Panny Nikas' Bankstown City Lions are at the opposite end of the tactical spectrum to Blacktown as they have deployed a high-energy, high-pressing system since his appointment. Nikas is a very positive coach that wants his team to play football at a high tempo and they need to get the ball back quickly, either through quick passing or transition attacks. They have won five, drawn one and lost two of their eight away league games, averaging 1.75 goals per game while conceding just 1.12.
Hosts have the edge at Blacktown Sports Park
Blacktown Spartans have won three and Bankstown City Lions have won two of the last five head-to-head New South Wales League 1 clashes, however, the Lions have failed to win in their last two away visits to Blacktown Spartans.
The odds for this match heavily favour a home win at 1.79 with Bankstown coming in at 3.56, but the value in this contest is surely in the goal markets. We're having a crack on over 2.5 goals here at 1.47 as this should be a fairly open match with both teams looking to get forward.
While the visitors will put all they have into this match and Nikas will surely set up a plan to stifle Blacktown Spartans' build-up, the hosts are more likely to nick this one given their strong home record and the high stakes involved.
