It’s an Easter Sunday blockbuster in Newcastle as the high-flying Jets welcome fourth-placed Melbourne City to McDonald Jones Stadium.
Newcastle, guaranteed second spot and a home Semi-Final, will be keen to find some form after last week’s 5-2 hammering at the hands of Adelaide United.
Ernie Merrick’s side welcome back star striker Roy O’Donovan from suspension and Dimi Petratos from international duty, while City are set to line-up with an unchanged team.
City come into this clash off the back of a 3-0 thumping of Western Sydney, though Warren Joyce’s side lost three of their previous four matches.
The Victorian outfit do have a strong recent record over the Jets though, winning six of the past 10 meetings between the two teams, scoring 4+ goals on four occasions in that time.
And their record at McDonald Jones Stadium is just as impressive.
City have won three of their last four fixtures at the venue, including a 2-1 victory on their last visit in Round 9.
Check out some of the other key stats and facts ahead of Sunday’s clash.
- Newcastle Jets have won six of their last seven games at McDonald Jones Stadium, keeping four clean sheets in that time.
- Melbourne City are undefeated on Sundays since Warren Joyce took the reins (W3, D2).
- Newcastle Jets have made 68 passes into the final third per game this season, six more than any other team in the competition.
- Only Sydney FC (10) have kept more clean sheets than either Newcastle Jets (7) or Melbourne City (7) this campaign.
- Nikolai Topor-Stanley has made 121 clearances this campaign, only Alex Wilkinson (145) has made more.
- Luke Brattan has made 218 passes into the final third this season, the second most of any player (Isaias 243).