League-leaders Sydney FC will be chasing a slice of revenge when they host the struggling Central Coast Mariners at Allianz Stadium on Saturday night.
Central Coast, currently second from bottom, caused the upset of the season when they overcame the Sky Blues 2-0 in Gosford back in Round 6.
The loss remains Sydney FC’s only blemish for the campaign with Graham Arnold’s side sitting six points clear of second-placed Newcastle Jets at the top of the league.
The Sky Blues will be confident of reversing that result having beaten the Mariners in five straight matches at Allianz Stadium, keeping three clean sheets in that time.
And with Paul Okon’s side winless in their past seven matches in the A-League, it looms as a tough ask for Central Coast to repeat their early season heroics.
Check out some of the key stats and facts ahead of Saturday night’s clash at Allianz.
- Central Coast Mariners ran out to a 2-0 win when these teams last met, snapping a nine-game winless streak against the Sky Blues (W8, D1).
- Sydney FC are undefeated in their last 24 games on home turf (W19 D5).
- The Mariners have won only one of their last 18 away games within New South Wales, and haven’t won such a fixture since February 2017 (D9, L8).
- This will be Graham Arnold’s 200th game as a manager in the A-League as he takes on his former club; only Ernie Merrick (257) has coached more games.
- Central Coast (196) and Sydney FC (202) have conceded fewer fouls than any other teams in the competition this season.
- Bobô has been directly involved in 20 goals this season (15 goals, 5 assists), seven more than any other player.
- Ben Kennedy has a save percentage of 76% this campaign, the best of any keeper to have made at least 10 saves.
