A big test of Melbourne City’s title ambitions will go under the spotlight this Saturday with the visit of Perth Glory.
City had been on an excellent run of form over the last six weeks until Wednesday night’s shock 2-1 loss at strugglers Central Coast Mariners.
While Warren Joyce’s men could have been within six points of the league-leaders had they won in Gosford, they now remain fourth and in danger of being overtaken by Wellington Phoenix if they don’t take maximum points in this one.
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It won’t be an easy task against a Glory side who look to be Premiers elect.
Tony Popovic’s side showed their title ambitions with an incredible fightback to beat Western Sydney Wanderers 4-3 last Sunday.
Even without star attacker Chris Ikonomidis on AFC Asian Cup duty with the Socceroos, Glory haven’t suffered in the front third, scoring 15 goals in their last four matches.
While City’s defence will offer a sterner resistance in this one, the likes of Andy Keogh, Joel Chianese and Diego Castro are in ominous form.
Glory got the goods 1-0 in Perth when they met earlier this season but City have lost just one of their last nine Hyundai A-League games at AAMI Park (W8, D1).
Key Opta stats
- Melbourne City are winless in their last four Hyundai A-League games against Perth Glory at AAMI Park (D1, L3); their last victory in such a fixture came in October 2016.
- Glory will equal their club-record five-game Hyundai A-League winning streak if they take all three points against Melbourne City, having won their last four games heading into this fixture.
- Tony Popovic’s side boasts a passing accuracy of 84% thus far in 2019, the highest of any team in the competition and five percentage points higher than City.
Ins and outs
Melbourne City FC squad: 2.Ritchie De LAET, 3.Scott JAMIESON (c), 4.Harrison DELBRIDGE, 5.Bart SCHENKEVELD, 6.Osama MALIK, 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, 26.Luke BRATTAN, 27.Florin BERENGUER-BOHRER, 34.Connor METCALFE, 40.James DELIANOV **two to be omitted**
Ins: 4.Harrison DELBRIDGE (return from suspension), 10.Dario VIDOSIC (promoted)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: Nil
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Perth Glory squad: 1.Tando VELAPHI (gk), 2.Alex GRANT, 3.Jason DAVIDSON, 4.Shane LOWRY, 5.Ivan FRANJIC, 7.Joel CHIANESE, 9.Andy KEOGH, 11.Brendon SANTALAB, 13.Matthew SPIRANOVIC, 15.Brandon WILSON, 16.Tomislav MRCELA, 17.Diego CASTRO, 20.Jake BRIMMER, 22.Fabio FERREIRA, 23.Scott NEVILLE, 27.JUANDE, 33.Liam REDDY (gk), 88.Neil KILKENNY **two to be omitted**
Ins: 13.Matt SPIRANOVIC, 15.Brandon WILSON
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 19.Chris IKONOMIDIS (international duty)
How to watch
Tune in to FOX SPORTS 505 or 10 Bold to watch all the action unfold from 7.50pm (AEDT). Or, you can or stream the match on the MyFootball Live App, which is live, fast and data-free for Telstra mobile customers.
Tickets
Secure your seat to AAMI Park by purchasing a ticket here.
Tipping
