Two of the Hyundai A-League’s most dangerous marksmen, Jamie Maclaren and Besart Berisha, go in hunt of the Hyundai A-League Golden Boot in the final match of the 2019/20 campaign.
City’s 20-goal forward Maclaren is set to become the third player in competition history to claim multiple Golden Boots, as he currently sits tied at the top with Sydney FC’s Adam Le Fondre.
Western United’s Berisha – the competition’s all-time top scorer and two-time Golden Boot winner – is the only man realistically capable of stopping the Socceroos striker. The Kosovo international is on 18 goals for the season.
Should he successfully chase down Maclaren and le Fondre, ‘Bes’ would become the first player in Hyundai A-League history to lead the goalscoring list three times. Back in 2016/17, Berisha, then at Melbourne Victory, and Maclaren, at Brisbane Roar, shared the prize.
The Green and Black complete their maiden Hyundai A-League campaign with the chance to climb to third position and set up an Elimination Final with sixth-place Perth Glory with a win, while a draw or defeat will mean squaring off against Brisbane Roar in the first stage of the Finals Series.
Melbourne City’s players will sit back and watch next weekend’s Elimination Finals after their second-place finish earns them a bye to the Semi-Final. Head coach Erick Mombaerts has steered City to their best ever Hyundai A-League position, bettering their third place finish in 2017/18.
The French tactician needs to guide his team to one more point to set a club record, beating their tally of 44 points in 2015/16. City have the edge over their state rivals United in their two previous meetings, winning both matches despite going down to 10-men on each occasion.
.jpg)
REPORT: Western United make statement as Lustica strike downs newly-crowned Premiers
REACTION: ‘We’ve got to be better’ – Wilkinson insists Sydney will shake off end of season slump
Wednesday, August 19 2020
Kick-off: 7.30pm AEST
Venue: Netstrata Jubilee Stadium
Broadcast: FOX Sports 507
Stream: MyFootball Live App, Kayo Sports
Ways to watch
Download the MyFootball Live App now
ABC TV
Sign up for Kayo Sports
Get Foxtel
How to follow the action
Match centre: Live updates, videos and statistics
Follow @ALeague on Twitter and join the conversation using #WUNvMCY #ALeague
Team news
Western United FC squad:1.Filip KURTO (GK), 2.Aaron CALVER, 5.Dylan PIERIAS, 6.Tomoki IMAI, 7.Valentino YUEL, 9.Apostolos STAMATELOPOULOS, 10.Steven LUSTICA, 11.Connor PAIN, 14.Max BURGESS, 17.Joshua CAVALLO, 18.Besart BERISHA, 19.Joshua RISDON, 21.Sebastian PASQUALI, 22.Tomislav USKOK, 23.Alessandro DIAMANTI (c), 25.Luke DUZEL, 26.Patrick ANTELMI, 27.Jerry SKOTADIS, 28.Oskar DILLON, 30.Ryan SCOTT (GK)
**2-4 to be omitted**
Ins: 11.Connor PAIN (promoted), 19. Joshua RISDON (promoted), 22.Tomislav USKOK (promoted), 26.Patrick ANTELMI (promoted)
Outs: 4.Andrew DURANTE (rested), 24. Thiel IRADUKUNDA (rested)
Unavailable: 3.Brendan HAMILL (knee – season), 13.Ivan VUJICA (groin – season), 20.James DELIANOV (GK) (knee – season)
Melbourne City FC squad: 1.Tom GLOVER (gk), 2.Scott GALLOWAY, 4.Harrison DELBRIDGE, 6.Josh BRILLANTE, 7.Rostyn GRIFFITHS, 9.Jamie MACLAREN, 10.Florin BERENGUER, 13.Nathaniel ATKINSON, 19.Lachlan WALES, 20.Adrian LUNA, 21.Ramy NAJJARINE, 22.Curtis GOOD, 30.Moudi NAJJAR, 34.Connor METCALFE, 35.Raphael BORGES RODRIGUEZ, 38.Yaya DUKULY, 39.Idrus ABDULAHI, 40.Richard WINDBICHLER, 46.Joe GAUCI, 49.Stefan COLAKOVSKI
**2-4 to be omitted**
Ins: 35.Raphael BORGES RODRIGUES (promoted), 38.Yaya DUKULY (promoted), 39.Idrus ABDULAHI (promoted)
Outs: 11.Craig NOONE (suspended – 1 match)
Unavailable: 3.Scott JAMIESON (personal leave)
Did you know?
- Melbourne City have won each of their two previous Hyundai A-League games against Western United by a margin of one goal each time; there have been a total of eight goals scored across those encounters.
- A win for United will be a club-record fourth consecutive win in the Hyundai A-Leage; only Adelaide United, Melbourne Victory and Western Sydney Wanderers managed to win four or more games in a row in their inaugural season.
- Alessandro Diamanti has created 18 scoring chances for Besart Berisha this season, more than any other combination of teammates in the competition.
- Jamie Maclaren has scored 20 goals in 22 games this season; his strike rate of 0.91 goals per game is the highest in a single season of any Melbourne City player in the competition’s history.
Tipping
