Round seven of the 2022-23 Australian A-League season sees Central Coast Mariners welcome Newcastle Jets to the Central Coast Stadium on Sunday.
Off the back of respective defeats in their most recent outings, the teams will be looking to serve up an immediate response by claiming all three points here.
Match preview
Central Coast Mariners were denied a third consecutive victory following a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Macarthur FC when the teams faced off on November 13.
Nick Montgomery's men found themselves two goals down thanks to strikes from Al-Hassan Toure and Jonathan Aspropotamitis, but Garang Kuol netted twice in the seven second-half minutes to restore parity before Jed Drew decided the game in stoppage time.
As a result, the Sauce bottles have dropped down to fifth place in the A-League table, nine points behind current leaders Melbourne City.
Next up is the challenge of an opposing outfit who have come out on top in just one of the last seven meetings between the sides, losing five of them.
Having scored seven goals and let in as many across their first three home games of the current campaign, Sunday's hosts will be looking to shore up things at the back a bit more here as they know they have the firepower to register at the other end.
Newcastle Jets suffered a third straight loss as they were narrowly beaten 2-1 by Melbourne City at the McDonald Jones Stadium on November 12.
Arthur Papas's men fell behind to Richard van der Venne's opener but managed to draw level through a Scott Jamieson own goal, after which Jamie Maclaren scored the winner 12 minutes into the second period.
With six points from their opening five games, the Jets sit 10th in the league standings, albeit only just a point off the last playoff place.
Still yet to avoid defeat or find the back of the net on enemy territory this term, Sunday's visitors now set out to turn their away fortunes around.
Team News
Brian Kaltak received his marching orders in Central Coast's defeat to Macarthur last time out, and the 29-year-old is suspended for this weekend's contest.
Twenty-three-year-old Daniel Hall is the favourite to replace Kaltak in the hosts' lineup for what would only be his third appearance of the campaign.
Garang Kuol is not expected to play any part in this one, as he is on the verge of completing a move to Newcastle United having recently returned from international duty with Australia.
Beka Dartsmelia did not feature for Newcastle Jets in their last outing, but the midfielder could make his return to the starting XI here.
Meanwhile, Rory Jordan is a guaranteed absentee for the visitors as he continues to nurse an injury which has seen him fail to feature since July.
Central Coast Mariners possible starting lineup:
Vukovic; Farrell, Hall, Triantis, Aquilina; Nkololo, Balard, Nisbet, Tulio; Ayongo, Cummings
Newcastle Jets possible starting lineup:
Weier; Hoffman, Natta, Elsey, Ingham; O'Neill, Thurgate; Buhagiar, Grozos, Piscopo; Mikeltadze
We say: Central Coast Mariners 2-1 Newcastle Jets
Both teams are separated by just one point heading into Sunday's clash, which could easily swing either way. That said, we are backing the hosts to see off the threat of their visitors and come away with all three points in the end.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
