Melbourne City will be chasing a club record when they take on Wellington Phoenix at QBE on Saturday evening.
Warren Joyce’s men look set to finish the regular season in third position and are picking up real momentum ahead of the Hyundai A-League Finals Series having claimed consecutive victories over Western Sydney Wanderers, Newcastle Jets and Central Coast Mariners.
This run of form has seen the Citizens keep three clean sheets on the bounce – never before has Melbourne City registered four in a row during their Hyundai A-League history.
Should they claim a fourth consecutive shutout on Saturday evening it could prove to be a flagship moment for City, for whom a soft underbelly has long been their undoing in the past.
But the arrival of Joyce and impact of Bart Schenkeveld seems to have remedied this traditional drawback to a significant extent with City boasting the league’s second sternest defence behind Sydney FC.
With City claiming the three points in their last two ventures to New Zealand as well as winning eight of their last nine games against the struggling Phoenix, it could be an opportunity for the visitors to cement their status as championship dark horses.
Thanks to Opta data you can check out some of the other key stats, facts and figures ahead of Saturday’s encounter.
- City have won on their last two visits to New Zealand to face the Phoenix, this after having won just one of their previous nine such fixtures (D2 L6).
- This will be the fourth A-League game played at QBE Stadium, with Wellington picking up a win, draw, and loss in the previous three at the venue.
- Wellington have won 20 aerial duels per game this season, more than any other side in the competition.
- Melbourne City have scored 11 goals from outside the box this campaign, five more than any other side in the competition.
- Roy Krishna has scored a goal in two of his last four league games against Melbourne City, but Wellington have lost both of those games 1-2.
