Melbourne City will look to continue their A-League title defence this Friday when they welcome Western United to AAMI Park for the third league game of the new season.
Venue: AAMI Park
Key Statistics
Melbourne City are unbeaten in six games (W5, D1).
They have kept three clean sheets from their last six games.
The hosts have won their last three home games while scoring at least two goals in each of those games.
Western United have lost three of their last five games.
They have lost their last five away games and are also winless in seven away games (L6, D1).
Head to head
In six meetings between both sides, Melbourne City holds the clear advantage, winning five times compared to Western United’s solitary win.
Latest Performances in all competitions
Melbourne City: W-D-W-W-W
Wester United: W-L-W-L-L
Melbourne City
Current A-League defending champions Melbourne City have continued where they left off last season when they won the final series by picking up one win and one draw in their opening games.
Patrick Kisnorbo’s men opened their A-League season’s account with a 2-1 win over Brisbane Roar before being held to a 2-2 draw with Adelaide United in their last league game.
However, they come into this tie fresh from a 1-0 win over Hume City in the FFA Cup. The win was secured by Mathew Leckie early in the first half and ensured that City extended their unbeaten to six games in all competitions.
They will now look to continue their impressive form when they welcome a Western United side they have beaten in five out of their last six meetings.
Possible Melbourne City starting line-ups
Tom Glover; Scott Galloway, Pereira Reis, Curtis Good, Scott Jamieson; Aiden O’Neil, Mathew Leckie, Aiden Berenguer, Connor Metcalfe; Andy Nabbout, Jamie Maclaren.
Western United
Western United will make it two wins in two league games when they travel to Melbourne this weekend.
The visitors defeated Perth Glory last week to make it one win and one loss in the league so far. Overall, they have two wins in three games this season, with a 2-1 win over Newcastle Jets in the FFA Cup their first on the season followed by a 1-0 loss to Melbourne Victory in their first league game of the season.
Against the defending champions, John Aloisi’s side will be desperate to get a point and boost their chances of finishing higher than the 10th place they finished last season.
However, the visitors who are playing their third season in the A-League come into this tie with a very poor away record, having won just one of their last ten away games (D1, L8).
Possible Western United starting line-ups
Jamie Young; Joshua Risdon, Tomoki Imai, Leo Lacroix, Benjamin Garuccio, Steven Lustica, Neil Kilkenny, Lachlan Wales, Alessandro Diamanti, Dylan Wenzel-Halls, Connor Pain.
Prediction
Melbourne City 2-1 Western United
