Two teams near the bottom of the A-League will meet on Sunday as Western United host Newcastle Jets in their latest fixture.
Both head into this on the back of defeats in their most recent outing and will be hoping to get back on track with immediate effect.
Match preview
Western United sit just a point above the foot of the table right now, showcasing the difficult start to the season that they have endured.
With just three victories across their opening 11 fixtures, there is plenty of room for improvement in the New Year, which the team will have to start showing.
However, 2023 started in a difficult manner last weekend when they were defeated 4-0 by the current league leaders Melbourne City in a match to forget.
Sitting just a point off the foot of the table should provide the team with enough motivation to push for a turnaround on Sunday though.
A victory could take Western United as high as seventh in the table should other results go their way, which would help the club start moving closer to how they finished last year, which was in third place.
The visitors only sit once place above their opponents right now, which helps to make this an important fixture for both as far as the league table is concerned.
However, Newcastle Jets are coming into this game out of form after losing their previous two fixtures without scoring a single goal.
The most recent loss came against Macarthur FC where two goals in the second half proved to be enough to seal the result.
The lack of goals from Newcastle Jets is something that Arthur Papastamatis could be concerned about, as no other team in the A-League have scored fewer than them so far.
With just three goals from their six away games to start the season there is certainly room for improvement, which is a pressure that the attacking players will be feeling.
Team News
Nicolas Milanovic was brought back into the Western United starting lineup during their first game of 2023, and he could retain his place as the team looks to provide more of an attacking threat.
However, the Western Service Crew will be without Ben Garuccio for Sunday's match after he suffered a calf injury, with Josh Risdon potentially being an option to replace him.
Brandon O'Neill could be an option for Newcastle Jets this weekend, potentially earning himself a recall to provide more balance to the team.
However, the pressure is going to be on the attacking players due to the lack of goals the team have scored this season.
The likes of Beka Mikeltadze, Jaushua Sotirio and Angus Thurgate will all be hoping to turnaround their recent issues.
Western United possible starting lineup:
Young; Tratt, Imai, Lacroix, Risdon; Doumbia, Kilkenny, Wales, Milanovic; Diamanti, Prijovic
Newcastle Jets possible starting lineup:
Duncan; Ingham, Natta, Elsey, Hoffman; Thurgate, Dartsmelia, Piscopo, Grozos, Sotirio; Mikeltadze
We say: Western United 1-0 Newcastle Jets
The visitors might head into this match slightly higher in the league table, but there is very little to split these two teams so far.
This should prove to be a closely fought game between the two, but it is one that Western United could just edge due to the lack of fire power from the visitors.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
