Adelaide return to league action this Saturday as they travel to Gosford to face Central Coast Mariners for the 20th round of the 1021/22 A-League season.
Venue: Central Coast Stadium (Gosford)
Key Statistics
Central Coast Mariners are unbeaten in their last five home league games (W2, D3).
They have kept one clean sheet from their last 12 games.
The hosts have scored 24 and conceded 24 goals in the league this season.
Adelaide United have scored the joint-third most goals in the league this season (28 goals).
The visitors have lost just one of their last eight away league games.
Head to head
This will be the 50th meeting across all competitions between the two sides. Adelaide have been the dominant side in this fixture with 24 wins to their name. Central Coast Mariners are not far behind with 18 wins, though they have only two wins in their last 15 meetings with the Reds.
Latest performances in all competitions
Central Coast Mariners: W-D-D-W-L
Adelaide United: D-L-W-W-W
Central Coast Mariners
Central Coast Mariners will look to extend their unbeaten run to five games when they welcome their South Australia rivals to Gosford this Saturday.
The hosts have won two and drawn two of their four league games. Their last outing was a huge 4-2 win over McArthur FC, pushing them to ninth place on the table.
With 19 points to their name after 16 games, they come into this round sitting five points behind sixth-placed Sydney FC who have played three games more.
With ten games left to play for them, they still have enough time to break into the top six. However, they will be desperate to win this game and so move further away from the top three.
Possible CC Mariners starting line-up
Mark Birighitti (GK); Jacob Farrell, Ruon Tongyik, Lewis Miller, Storm Roux; Max Ballard, Noah Smith, Cy Goddard, Josh Nisbet; Marco Urena, Jason Cummings.
Injured: Harry McCarthy
Doubtful: Oliver Bozanic, Beni N’Kololo, Dan Hall
Suspension: None
Unavailable: Kye Rowles (COVID-19)
Adelaide United
After two games without a win, Adelaide United will look to get back to winning ways this weekend when they face Mariners.
Despite their recent wobble, the visitors come into this tie sitting in third place, three points ahead of the chasing teams and none points behind league leaders Melbourne City.
They will go into this game looking to consolidate their position on the table. Given that they have beaten their hosts in three of their last four head-to-head meetings, they will fancy their chances of getting a good result on this occasion.
Possible Adelaide United starting line-up
Joe Gauci (GK); Ryan Kitto, Alexandar Popovic, Lachlan Barr, Javi Lopez; Juande, Isaias Sanchez, Zach Clough; George Blackwood, Hiroshi Ibusuki, Mohamed Toure.
Injured: Kusini Yengi, Nick Ansell, James Delianov, Michael Jakobsen, Jacob Tratt
Unavailable (COVID-19): Craig Goodwin
Suspended: None
Prediction
CC Mariners 1-2 Adelaide United
