Melbourne City will be out for a form of revenge when they host Newcastle Jets in a clash that will close Round 6 of the Hyundai A-League on Sunday evening.
City’s season was ended by the Jets last term, the Hunter club winning 2-1 in a Semi-Final Final best remembered for Riley McGree’s incredible scorpion kick.
McGree, now a City player, cancelled out Bruno Fornaroli’s opener before ex-City man Jason Hoffman struck a 75th-minute winner on a famous night in Newcastle.
The Jets took until Round 5 to record their first Hyundai A-League win since that triumph, Hoffman and Ronald Vargas striking in a 2-0 win over the Western Sydney Wanderers.
WATCH FOR FREE: How to watch the Hyundai A-League LIVE and FREE
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Jets boss Ernie Merrick will hope that kickstarts his side’s season and they will be boosted by the return of defender Johnny Koutroumbis, less than two months after his cancer diagnosis.
Merrick will hope another win follows against an inconsistent City side who were well beaten 2-0 by Brisbane Roar last time out.
Star City forward Bruno Fornaroli was surprisingly left out for that clash and will miss again, despite scoring 10 goals in his last eight matches against the Jets in all competitions.
Key Opta stats
- Melbourne City have lost just one of their last 10 games against Newcastle Jets at AAMI Park (W6, D3), scoring multiple goals in all but one game in that time.
- Newcastle Jets are looking to win back-to-back games against Melbourne City in the Hyundai A-League for the first time since 2013.
Ins and outs
Melbourne City FC squad: 1.Mark BIRIGHITTI (gk), 2.Ritchie De LAET, 3.Scott JAMIESON (c) , 4.Harrison DELBRIDGE, 5.Bart SCHENKEVELD, 7.Rostyn GRIFFITHS, 8.Riley MCGREE, 10.Dario VIDOSIC, 13.Nathaniel ATKINSON, 15.Kearyn BACCUS, 18.Eugene GALEKOVIC (gk), 19.Lachlan WALES, 21.Ramy NAJJARINE, 22.Curtis GOOD, 25.Iacopo LA ROCCA, 26.Luke BRATTAN, 27.Florin BERENGUER-BOHRER, 34.Connor METCALFE
**two to be omitted**
Ins: 22. Curtis GOOD (promoted), 34.Connor METCALFE (promoted),
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 6.Osama MALIK (calf), 11.Michael O’HALLORAN (hamstring)
Newcastle Jets squad: 1.Glen MOSS (gk), 3.Jason HOFFMAN, 4.Nigel BOOGAARD (c), 5.Ben KANTAROVSKI, 6.Steven UGARKOVIC, 7.Dimi PETRATOS, 8.Jair, 10.Ronald VARGAS, 11.Mitch AUSTIN, 13.Ivan VUJICA, 16.Nick COWBURN, 17.Daniel GEORGIEVSKI, 18.Johnny KOUTROUMBIS, 20.Lewis ITALIANO (gk), 22.Lachlan JACKSON, 23.Matthew RIDENTON, 32.Angus THURGATE, 44.Nikolai TOPOR-STANLEY
**two to be omitted**
Ins: 18.Johnny KOUTROUMBIS (return from illness), 23.Matt RIDENTON (promoted)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 9.Roy O’DONOVAN (suspension – 3 rounds), 14.Kaine SHEPPARD (foot – 2 weeks), 24.Joe CHAMPNESS (foot – TBC)
How to watch
Catch all the action on FOX SPORTS 505 from 7:00pm (AEDT) or tune in on the MyFootball Live App, Live Fast and Data Free for Telstra mobile customers.
Tickets
Be there as City face the Jets. Secure your ticket here.
