Aussies Abroad Preview: Souttar’s Stoke face league leaders, Mooy prepares for Bronze Final in China
Harry Souttar’s Stoke City have a showdown with league leaders Reading as a number of Socceroos prepare to feature across the world this weekend.
In the English Championship, Souttar will be in the heart of defence for Stoke City when they travel to league leaders Reading at 11:30pm on Saturday.
The Potters were outdone 3-2 away to Watford in their midweek encounter and drop into 11th ahead of their trip to Reading who suffered their second successive defeat of the campaign – going down 3-0 to Preston North End.
Aaron Mooy will be gearing up for Shanghai SIPG in the Chinese Super League on Saturday night when they do battle against Beijing Guoan at 10:35pm.
Mooy’s SIPG were knocked out by Jiangsu Suning in the semi-final but will still have a chance of collecting silverware if they manage to overcome Beijing in their two-legged clash.
In the Scottish Premiership, Tom Rogic and his Celtic take on Motherwell at 11pm on Sunday.
The Socceroos midfielder will be hoping that his four assists in his last two league matches will be enough to see him earn a place in the starting line-up as they look to close the nine-point gap on table-toppers Rangers.
Elsewhere, Martin Boyle’s Hibernian travel to Aberdeen at 6:45am on Saturday.
Hibs are undefeated in the league for the last three matches however they enter this fixture on the back of their Scottish Cup semi-final defeat at the hands of Edinburgh rivals Hearts.
Their upcoming opposition sit just below them in fourth on the ladder, their last two outings have seen them go head to head with Celtic – enduring a 3-3 stalemate in their Premiership clash before being knocked out in the Cup last weekend.
Maty Ryan could be in contention to return to the starting line-up for Brighton & Hove Albion when they welcome Burnley to the AMEX Stadium at 4:30am on Saturday.
The Socceroos shot stopper had to settle for a place on the bench as they fell to a 2-1 defeat at Tottenham in their most recent outing.
This will be the opportune time for the Seagulls to pick up their second win of the campaign as they face off against a Burnley outfit who prop up the table with no wins to their name.
Awer Mabil will be featuring for Midtjylland when they host FC Kobenhavn in the Danish Superligaen at 4am on Monday.
The reigning Danish champions have hit a rough patch of late with three straight defeats, two of those arriving in the UEFA Champions League with the other coming last round at Nordsjaelland.
Over to Belgium where Danny Vukovic’s Genk will be aiming to make it four wins on the bounce when they visit St Truiden at 6:45am on Sunday.
The Aussie shot stopper registered his second cleansheet of the campaign last time out as his side enjoyed their biggest win of the season.
If results go their way this weekend, they could break into the elusive top four.
Trent Sainsbury will be lining up for Kortrijk when they entertain Beerschot at 2:15am on Sunday.
This fixture could prove difficult for Kortrijk given that their opponents situated in 2nd.
In the Bundesliga, Ajdin Hrustic and his Eintracht Frankfurt will meet Stuttgart at 1:30am on Sunday.
Frankfurt have not taken all three points from a match since the beginning of October and will be in desperate need to claim a win against fellow mid-table outfit Stuttgart.
Mathew Leckie will be gearing up for Hertha Berlin when they face off against Augsburg at 1:30am on Sunday.
Hertha snapped out of their four-match losing streak last time out when they drew 1-1 with Wolfsburg.
Another defeat against high-flying Augsburg could see them slip into the relegation zone.
James Jeggo and his Aris Thessaloniki will have their biggest test yet when they do battle against fellow title-chasing AEK Athens in the Greek Super League at 4:30am on Monday.
Aris and AEK are two of three sides who are still unbeaten in the Greek top flight however Jeggo’s side sit in front of the men from the capital thanks to their extra win.
Elsewhere, Apostolos Giannou’s OFI Crete have a date with Olympiacos at 12am on Monday.
Giannou is yet to get on the scoresheet for his new side who currently occupy 10th position with just one win from their seven league encounters.
In the Dutch Eredivisie, Daniel Arzani’s FC Utrecht will host leaders Ajax at 10:15pm on Sunday.
His side suffered a shock defeat against Heracles last weekend and sit in 8th spot ahead of this meeting.
Heading to Turkey where Aziz Behich and his Kayserispor will take on Hatayspor in the SuperLig on Monday at 12am.
Kayserispor have suffered back-to-back league defeats while their upcoming opponents who were promoted this season, sit in a mid-table position.
Milos Degenek will be in action for FK Crvena Zvezda on Monday when they entertain Indjija in the Serbian SuperLiga at 5am on Monday.
Degenek’s side returned to winning ways last time out with a crushing 4-1 victory against Surdulica and are favourites to take all three points from this match.
In the Saudi Pro League, Craig Goodwin will be hoping to add to his goals tally when his Abha Club face off against Al Batin at 1:45am on Saturday.
Goodwin’s wonder goal helped his side secure a 3-2 win last round and he will be hoping to get on the scoresheet again this Friday as his side look to register consecutive victories for the first time this season.
Mitch Duke will be lining up for Al-Taawoun when they visit Al Ittihad at 3:45am on Saturday.
Duke’s side suffered their first defeat of the season last time out but sit on the same amount of points as their upcoming opponents ahead of their fixture.
Aussie centre back Bailey Wright will be in the heart of defence for Sunderland when they welcome Mansfield to the Stadium of Light in the first round of the FA Cup at 2am on Sunday.
Elsewhere, Kenny Dougall’s Blackpool will face off against National League North side Eastbourne Borough in their FA Cup first round tie at 1:30am on Monday.
In the 2. Bundesliga, Brandon Borrello’s Fortuna Dusseldorf will travel to Nurnberg at 11pm on Saturday.
Fortuna are three places above Nurnberg in 12th ahead of this weekend’s tie however only one point separates the two teams.