Reds go to face Roar with the Australian Cup on the line.
The last round of the 2023-24 Isuzu UTE A-League regular season begins in Brisbane on Friday night, with the Roar hosting Adelaide United at Suncorp Stadium. With both of their playoffs prospects officially dead in Round 25, Brisbane Roar and Adelaide United will compete for pride in their season’s final match, as well as an automatic berth in the 2024 Australia Cup Round of 32. If Adelaide fails to win at Brisbane, Carl Veart’s side will finish in the bottom four and must compete in a playoff to qualify for the Australia Cup.
For the home team, it marks an excellent opportunity for Ruben Zadkovich to demonstrate why he was the best candidate to succeed Ben Cahn at the club. Zadkovich, who took over in an interim capacity when Cahn stepped down to focus on his health, was officially named head coach on a two-year contract earlier this week. The Roar defeated Adelaide 2-0 in their last league meeting in December, snapping a seven-match winless streak against them, and Zadkovich’s team is also looking to win back-to-back games against the Reds for the first time since March 2018.
The good news for Adelaide is that Carl Veart’s team is undefeated in their past four league games against the Brisbane Roar in Queensland (W2, D2). In terms of final league positions, Brisbane knows that a point against the Reds will be enough to earn eighth place ahead of Adelaide, who presently lead by one point.
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