Match preview: Brisbane Roar v Central Coast Mariners

Ex-Roar boss Mike Mulvey returns to his former club as the Central Coast Mariners visit Brisbane on Sunday afternoon, with kick off at 3.00pm (AEDT).

The Mariners will be out to prove they mean business this season after the turmoil of last campaign.

However, they won’t find it easy against John Aloisi’s new-look Brisbane side, who are looking to return among the title contenders in 2018/19.

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All smiles ahead of round 1️⃣! 😀 #CCMFC #BRIvCCM pic.twitter.com/2PQOaWFzvb

— Central Coast Mariners (@CCMariners) October 18, 2018

KEY OPTA STATS

Brisbane Roar are undefeated in their last 12 games against Central Coast (W10, D2), keeping six clean sheets in the process.
Brisbane have outscored Central Coast 18-3 across their last six meetings at Suncorp Stadium, remaining undefeated in that time (W5, D1).
There have been 17 goals scored in the Mariners’ last three Round 1 fixtures, with the Central Coast club picking up a win, draw, and loss in that time.

THEY SAID IT

“It’s going to be an attacking brand of football, which suits me, and was one of the reasons I made the move to Brisbane. The biggest thing [to focus on] was working on scoring more goals – that’s something we’ve worked on over pre-season – getting into good positions and becoming a complete player.” – Roar playmaker Stefan Mauk

“We don’t talk about that [bad record] anymore. We talk about looking forward and having a very positive environment and so far, so good. It doesn’t mean to say that we are going to win every game but we certainly are going to be in every game, because we’re going to be competitive.” – Mariners boss Mike Mulvey

INS AND OUTS

Brisbane Roar FC squad: 1.Brendan WHITE (gk), 4.Daniel BOWLES, 6.Avram PAPADOPOULOS, 7.Thomas KRISTENSEN, 8.Jacob PEPPER, 9.Adam TAGGART, 11.Eric BAUTHEAC, 13.Stefan MAUK, 14.Alex LOPEZ, 15.Stefan NIGRO, 17.Matt MCKAY (c), 19.Jack HINGERT, 21.Jamie YOUNG (gk), 22.Tobias MIKKELSEN, 23.Dylan WENZEL-HALLS, 24.Connor O’TOOLE, 26.Nicholas D’AGOSTINO, 33.HENRIQUE **two to be omitted**

Unavailable: 2.Dane INGHAM (ankle – 3 weeks), 10.Brett HOLMAN (knee – TBC)

Central Coast Mariners squad: 1.Ben KENNEDY (gk), 3.Jack CLISBY, 4.Jake McGING, 5.Antony GOLEC, 6.Tom HIARIEJ, 8.Michael McGLINCHEY, 10.Tommy OAR, 11.Connor PAIN, 12.Adam PEARCE (gk), 13.Aiden O’NEILL, 15.Kye ROWLES, 16.Josh MACDONALD, 18.Matt MILLAR, 19.Matt SIMON (c), 20.Kalifa CISSE, 22.Jacob MELLING, 25.Jordan MURRAY, 44.Ross McCORMACK **two to be omitted**

Unavailable: 2.Jonathan ASPROPOTAMITIS (ACL), 7.Andrew HOOLE (foot injury), Corey GAMEIRO (Hamstring)