- Western City Rangers have won 2 of their 3 NSW League 1 home matches, but have conceded 5 goals in that time.
- Rydalmere Lions are unbeaten away from home in the New South Wales League 1 this season, having won once and drawn twice, and they have drawn both of their last 2 away trips.
- Western City have won 3 of their last 5 NSW League 1 matches, while Rydalmere have won 2, drawn 2 and lost 1 in the same period.
An important clash in the middle of the table
Saturday’s game between Western City Rangers and Rydalmere Lions could be a little closer than the bookies are suggesting, with Western City the slight favourites at 2.27 and Rydalmere priced up at 2.49.
City have had an excellent first season following their rebrand and investment in the club as they have shown their mid-table credentials in New South Wales League 1 with 9 points from 6 games, putting them in 8th. They’ve won 2 of their 3 home matches so far, which is a positive sign, but they’ve also conceded 5 goals.
Rydalmere are just 3 points ahead of Western City in 7th position after taking 12 points from their 7 opening games. They’ve struggled a little more than their hosts but have drawn both of their last 2 league games away from home, while they come into this off the back of a 1-0 home win over Central Coast Mariners Youth.
Lions like to counter, City like to probe
Western City are a well organised unit who have been set up to be pragmatic, if slightly cautious at times. They will set up compact defensive blocks and press selectively, but only when they feel they can win the ball back in good areas to start a quick transition. They like to control the pace and probe.
Rydalmere, on the other hand, like to congest the central channels and operate with a man-for-man urgency to win 50/50 balls in their own third, while they’re often better in the second halves of games when their counter-punching ability is utilised against teams who have a lot of the ball.
Rangers on the up
These two sides know each other very well and there is not much between them, their last two meetings have been won by different sides, but City have won 2 of their last 3 home league games, while Rydalmere haven’t won away to the Rangers in any competition.
This is a tricky one to call and the hosts are on the up, so we’re backing them to edge this one, while the Over 2.5 goals market is heavy favourite at 1.36 and we can see both sides playing their part in an open game as they look to establish their new identities and climb the NSW League 1 table.
