Perth Glory vs Western United Prediction: Visitors could serve wooden spoon to hosts

After a humiliating 8-0 defeat at the hands of Melbourne City last weekend, Perth Glory must now pick themselves up and prepare for a bottom-of-the-table clash with Western United at HBP Park on Sunday (KO, 08:00). Three points for the visitors would consign the Glory to a last-place finish and see them earn the dreaded Australian A-League Men's wooden spoon.

Below you can find all the latest team news and match odds ahead of this fixture, which will be shown live in the UK on TNT Sports 6, and read my Perth Glory vs Western United prediction.

Just a single point separates these sides in the table, with Tuesday's 3-3 thriller against Adelaide United pushing Western United ahead of their rivals.

John Aloisi's side have actually been in good form since losing 2-1 at Melbourne Victory on February 20, winning three, drawing the same number and being defeated just twice.

Perth Glory cannot relate to that - they've failed to win any of their last eight since beating Brisbane Roar 3-2 on February 17.

History isn't kind to them either, with Western United winning the last three head-to-heads, including a 1-0 victory on March 2.

Team News

It wouldn't be a surprise to see a raft of changes to the Perth Glory starting XI after last weekend's debacle in Melbourne. Riley Warland was substituted before the half-hour mark in that defeat, while Stefan Colakovski and Jacob Muir were only given until half-time before they were hooked.

Mustafa Amini and Aleksandar Susnjar are both back in the squad after missing out against City, so they are two players that could come in from the off.

Mark Beevers has been injured since last year and continues to be a big miss at the heart of the Glory's defence, while goalkeeper Cameron Cook is on international duty in Qatar with the Olyroos.

Western United have several players still out injured including Daniel Penha, Nikita Rukavytsya, Ramy Najjarine, Jacob Tratt and Noah Botic, while 20-year-old Khoder Kaddour lasted just 26 minutes against Adelaide United last time out and will be sidelined on Sunday.

Match Odds

Perth Glory are 13/10 to snap out of an eight-game winless spell and claim all three points on Sunday, giving them an implied win probability of 43.5%. Western United's chances are rated at 40%, with odds of 6/4. The draw, meanwhile, can be backed at 13/5.

Both teams to score - Yes has landed in three of the past four meetings between the sides and is available at 1/3 this weekend.

Away team total goals - over 1.5 @ 4/5

It was a harrowing defeat for the Glory last time out with eight goals shipped at AAMI Park. While home comforts may provide a bit more stability at the back, they might still find themselves picking the ball out of the net a few times on Sunday.

8-0 is by far their biggest loss of the season, but the concession of multiple goals in the same game has been a familiar feeling all season. Prior to their defeat in Melbourne, Adelaide United hit four past them at HBF Park, and you can find nine further games just this calendar year where Perth Glory have conceded at least twice.

In 25 A-League Men's matches this term, the Glory have conceded 58 times, an average of 2.32 goals per game.

Western United could barely buy a goal in the first half of the campaign, but they've really come into their own in front of the net over the past month or so.

Since beating this weekend's opponents 1-0 on March 2, Western United have scored at least twice in a game on four occasions, only failing to do so against Adelaide United (1-4) and Central Coast Mariners (0-2).

After scoring three past Adelaide United earlier this week and seeing how events transpired between Melbourne City and Perth Glory two days prior, Sunday's visitors to HBF Park will fancy their chances of getting in the goals in this fixture.

Anytime goal scorer - Matthew Grimaldi @ 9/2

Given the fragilities present in the Perth Glory backline, it make sense to back a scorer in the Western United ranks. Their most obvious options to find the net - Daniel Penha and Botic - are both absent on Sunday, which gives us the chance to look at some value picks that may be of interest.

One that instantly catches the eye is Matthew Grimaldi, who is 9/2 to score anytime at HBF Park. The 20-year-old has scored four times in 21 A-League Men's appearances this season, which may not seem like a lot, but when you consider that three of those strikes have come in his last six outings, you realise that this is a player in red-hot form in front of goal.

It was Grimaldi who opened the scoring in Tarneit on Tuesday and he was trusted to stay out on the pitch until the 81st minute by boss Aloisi - if he gets similar playing time on Sunday, it wouldn't be a surprise to see him carve out at least one presentable opportunity to net his fifth of the campaign and help Western United to avoid the wooden spoon.

Grimaldi attempted four shots when these sides met last month, managing to get one of them on target, and he will be backing himself to get to similar numbers on Sunday.

Check out the rest of our Football Betting Tips here.