Melbourne City will be looking to silence the doubters in Friday night’s clash with Perth Glory at AAMI Park.
After a highly disappointing 3-0 loss at home to the Western Sydney Wanderers in round six, City earned a credible 1-1 draw away to ladder leaders Brisbane Roar. Touted at the beginning of the season, John van’t Schip’s men will have no greater chance to get back on track than against a severely undermanned Glory outfit.
Scoreless in the past three fixtures, Kenny Lowe’s team are missing the influence of a number of key men in attack, while his side must contain City’s attacking threat.
Key battle – Corey Gameiro/Harry Novillo vs Marc Warren/Josh Risdon
Despite Lowe’s extremely inexperienced backline in last week’s 0-0 draw with Sydney FC, Glory did not concede the number of chances, and openings that it has so far this season.
Marc Warren and Josh Risdon have performed admirably well, with the latter earning his maiden Socceroos cap in the most recent batch of World Cup qualifiers. Glory’s solidity in the centre of the park, while obviously lacking attacking dynamism, has helped the two full-backs keep opposition wide men at bay.
The Michael Thwaite midfield experiment looks a decent innovation on the evidence of a few games, with his defensive instincts helping to make the team far harder to break down.
Providing that Lowe opts for this tactic again this Friday, which looks highly likely, time and space for City’s dangerous central-attackers in Aaron Mooy and Bruno Fornaroli might be hard to come by. This could put the performances of Corey Gameiro and Harry Novillo into focus. With Gameiro looking to return to full fitness, similarly so with Novillo, Glory’s defence will need to ensure at least one of these individual battles are won on the night.
[interaction id=”5656882db8db3ddc5e7c6043″]
Team news
It is a mixed bag for City’s defensive stocks. Ivan Franjic should replace youngster Matt Millar at right-back after his debut appearance from the bench last week. However, central-defensive duo Patrick Kisnorbo and Aaron Hughes are still missing through injury, with an expected return of early December.
Jack Clisby has been used in the centre in recent times, while van’t Schip also has the option of utilising 19-year-old Callum Richardson, who is yet to make his debut for the club since arriving from Burnley.
Glory’s barren run in attack is at threat of continuing, with Guyon Fernandez set to miss a run of matches and the club are reportedly assessing whether to undertake surgery to repair a foot problem. Gyorgy Sandor is also set to miss Friday’s match with an ongoing ankle issue, but is expected back for the round 8 clash with Adelaide United at Coopers Stadium.
Head-to-head
The men from Western Australia have had the better of this fixture, winning seven of the 16 previous meetings between the two sides since Melbourne Heart’s introduction to the A-League in 2010. The most notable of these triumphs was the 3-0 romp in the elimination stage of the 2011-12 season.
City have only won this fixture a mere four times, with five draws rounding out this fixture’s history.
Previous meeting
Jamie Maclaren, now with Brisbane Roar, settled the last A-League meeting between the two sides with a hat-trick, condemning City to a 3-1 loss at NIB Stadium.
City defender Paolo Retre was remarkably sent off after amassing two yellow cards in as many minutes on the cusp of half time with Perth leading 1-0. Aaron Mooy equalised for the visitors seven minutes into the second-half with a sensational free-kick, but Maclaren added two in the final 25 minutes to earn maximum points for his team.
Prediction
Perth’s lack of firepower will only be resolved once key personnel return, or a move is made in the January transfer window. That being said, City, without the leadership of Kisnorbo or Hughes, are a vulnerable entity. The hosts will be expected to win this, and should have enough quality in the final third to keep Van’t Schip’s job security out of the spotlight.
Melbourne City 2 Perth Glory 1
What are your thoughts? Let us know by dropping a comment below via our Facebook comment box. Make sure you follow us on Twitter @Outside90 and like us on Facebook.
