Melbourne City will look to strengthen their position at the top of the Australian A-League table on Sunday, when they welcome Newcastle Jets to the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium.
The hosts currently sit four points clear of second-placed Adelaide United with a game in hand, while their visitors find themselves seventh and in the midst of a four-match winless run.
Match preview
After finishing at the top of the A-League table last season, before eventually losing to Western United in the grand final in their bid to retain the title, Melbourne City have certainly enjoyed another strong campaign domestically, as they set their sights on going one better than last term and securing their second league trophy in three years.
In 20 A-League matches thus far, initially under the management of Patrick Kisnorbo before the departing boss was replaced by Rado Vidosic, City have put 41 points on the board courtesy of 12 victories, while only suffering three defeats.
Two of those losses have come relatively recently, though, as they firstly saw an eight-game unbeaten run put to an end by a 3-2 defeat at the hands of rivals Melbourne Victory, before being beaten 4-2 away at Adelaide United two weeks later at the beginning of March.
While that result did see the chasing side move closer to Vidosic's men at the summit, Melbourne were quickly able to bounce back to winning ways with a 2-1 home victory over Brisbane Roar, thanks to an Aiden O'Neill brace, including an 88th-minute winner, before most recently snatching a point away at Macarthur as a Jonathan Aspropotamitis own goal on the hour mark drew them level at 1-1.
While they are arguably in their toughest run of the campaign thus far, Melbourne City do still boast a healthy lead of four points over the chasing pack, having played a game fewer than Adelaide, and they will be keen to make another swift return to winning ways at the weekend to ensure the gap is not reduced further.
They take on a Newcastle Jets side who arrive in a tough run of their own, having struggled in recent weeks after putting a commendable tally of 24 points on the board in their first 17 outings.
A six-game unbeaten run, which included three triumphs, was then ended in a 3-1 defeat at home to Western United, and the Jets were unable to quickly bounce back as they met Wellington Phoenix in the following encounter and lost 2-1 before being handed a 4-2 defeat at home to Adelaide United.
In their bid to arrest the developing slump, Arthur Papas's side most recently hosted 10th-placed Perth Glory before the recent international games, and they looked set to make a return to winning ways in a 2-1 victory thanks to goals from Trent Buhagiar and Kosta Grozos, only to squander a lead for the second time in the contest in the dying embers as Ryan Williams forced a share of the spoils seven minutes into injury time.
Now sitting seventh with a six-point gap up to the top five as a result of their tough run, the Jets will hope to return from the break rejuvenated and will aim to begin turning their form around with a victory in an admittedly unenviable fixture away at the league leaders.
Team News
Melbourne City's attack will again be led by talismanic frontman Jamie MacLaren, who has notched up 18 goals in 20 A-League appearances so far this term after hitting 65 across the previous three seasons.
They will remain without winger Mathew Leckie, though, with the Australia international still sidelined by a hamstring injury after contributing six goals and five assists in the first 16 league games of the campaign.
In his absence, Andrew Nabbout and Marco Tilio should again start on the flanks, while elsewhere Aiden O'Neill and Scott Jamieson will operate at the base of midfield with Curtis Good and Nuno Reis bound to continue their partnership at the heart of the back four.
After his opener against Perth Glory last time out, Trent Buhagiar will continue to play a key role in the Newcastle Jets attack, with the winger now boasting five goals and four assists in 20 league appearances this term.
Beka Mikeltadze sits joint-top of the squad's scoring charts, having also found the net five times this season, and he will again lead the line alongside Kosta Grozos, who netted his second of the season in their eventual draw last time out.
Angus Thurgate is somewhat of a mainstay in the engine room and should again be joined by Brandon O'Neill, while former Arsenal man Carl Jenkinson continues to offer experience and quality at centre-back.
Melbourne City possible starting lineup:
Glover; Talbot, Reis, Good, Bos; O'Neill, Jamieson; Tilio, Brisbane, Nabbout; MacLaren
Newcastle Jets possible starting lineup:
Weier; Aquilina, Jenkinson, Jurman, Hoffman; Buhagiar, Thurgate, O'Neill, Saito; Grozos, Mikeltadze
We say: Melbourne City 2-0 Newcastle Jets
Although results in the last month have not been near the levels they are capable of and have displayed throughout the season thus far, we can still only envisage the quality in this Melbourne City team getting them over the line against the struggling visitors.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Sam Varley
