Sydney are chasing victory over Japanese club Sanfrecce Hiroshima

The Sky Blues will be aiming for a third successive Group E win when they take on Arslan’s Japanese side Sanfrecce Hiroshima at the Edion Peace Wing Stadium.

Arslan joined Sanfrecce in July, shortly after his controversial departure from Melbourne City.

The 34-year-old German playmaker was City’s best player last season and one of the tournament’s standout performers.

His departure came as a shock given he had a year left on his contract at City and “family reasons” were cited as one of the reasons why Arslan asked to have his contract terminated.

However, it is understood that City’s failure to deliver on their promise to offer Arslan a contract extension on the same terms as his existing deal has led to the rift.

Since his arrival, Arslan has helped Sanfrecce rise to the top of the J1 League standings.

With four rounds left in the competition, JI Sanfrecce, in first place, is one point ahead of Vissel Kobe, while Machida Zelvia, the club of Socceroos striker Mitchell Duke, is four points behind in third place.

“Coming in mid-season is always difficult, but coaches Michael Skibbe and Serhat Umar made it easy for me to adapt,” Arslan told ESPN last week.

Sydney coach Ufuk Talay acknowledged the threat Arslan posed to the Sky Blues.

“He is a very good player,” Talay said of the former Udinese (Italy) and Besiktas (Türkiye) star.

“He is very technical, creates a lot of scoring opportunities and scores goals himself.

“He played for some very big clubs and went to a good team in Hiroshima.

“They have other good players, not just Tolgai. Overall we just need to focus on our game and hopefully what we do will be enough to get the win.”

Confidence is high in the Sydney side following their 2-1 derby win over the Wanderers at the weekend, a match that included impressive performances from powerful attacking trio Douglas Costa, Joe Lolley and Patrik Klimala, as well as midfielder Anthony Caceres.

“Everyone bounced back well after the derby, which is very good for us,” Talay said.

“We came here to play and win.”

Like Sydney, Sanfrecce also has six points from two matches in Group E of the Champions League.

“It won’t be an easy game, but we’re looking forward to the challenge.” – said Talay.

The game is part of a busy week for the Sydneysiders, who will fly straight to New Zealand after the match for an A-League showdown with newcomers Auckland at Go Media Stadium on Sunday.

“We will evaluate the situation after the game (Wednesday night) and if we need to make adjustments, we will make adjustments for the game in Oakland,” Talay said.

Originally published as Sydney must cancel threat of former Melbourne City playmaker Tolgay Arslan