Coming off a defeat to Adelaide United, league leaders Central Coast Mariners will be aiming to return to winning ways when they travel to Perth Glory on Tuesday.
This is the first meeting between the sides this season, with the hosts holding on for a 1-0 win in their most recent meeting back in July 2020.
Match preview
© Reuters
Perth Glory grabbed their fourth win of the year and a third on the trot on Friday when they cruised to a comfortable home victory over Brisbane Roar.
Roar midfielder Jack Hingert cancelled out Diego Castro's 40th-minute opener late in the first half, but second-half goals from Bruno Fornaroli and another from Castro gave the hosts a 3-1 win.
Richard Garcia's men are sixth in the A-League table, but they have three games in hand over most of their rivals and could surge to the summit of the Australian top flight should they grab all nine points.
The Western Australia outfit currently boast the deadliest attack this term, having scored 18 goals in six matches for an average of three goals per game.
However, they have struggled to replicate this standard at the defensive end of the pitch, as they have shipped 13 goals already this term.
The visitors slumped to a 3-2 defeat away at the Coopers Stadium in their last outing when they met a resilient Adelaide United.
Alen Stajcic's side, who ended with 10 men, blew the lead twice before Tomi Juric scored his third penalty of the game to give the Reds a hard-earned 3-2 win.
This was just their third loss of the season and it ended their run of three straight wins and cut their lead at the top of the table to one point after second-placed Macarthur claimed a 1-0 win over Sydney FC.
The Mariners will travel to HBF Park on Tuesday with an impressive away record so far, having picked up nine points from a possible 12 on the road.
Their defensive solidity, at least in comparison to other teams, has been a huge factor in their rise to the top of the A-League table, as they have conceded the second-fewest goals so far with 10.
Perth Glory Australian A-League form: WLLWWW
Central Coast Mariners Australian A-League form: WLWWWL
Team News
© Reuters
Perth Glory defender Osama Malik is once again on the sidelines through injury, after featuring in just 11 matches last season due to a hamstring injury.
This time, the 30-year-old is out with a dislocated shoulder he suffered in a friendly match in January.
Chris Ikonomidis is also on Glory's injury list after he was declared to have suffered an ankle problem.
Besides that, Garcia has a full squad to pick from, and we could see Bruno Fornaroli and Diego Castro lead the attack for the second-straight game this season.
The visitors have a clean bill of health and Kye Rowles will be available to feature after his red card against Adelaide United was reversed.
Perth Glory possible starting lineup:
Reddy; Ingham, Lachman, Aspropotamitis, Walsh; Hughes, Kilkenny, Stynes, D'Agostino; Castro, Fornaroli
Central Coast Mariners possible starting lineup:
Birighitti; Clisby, Rowles, Tongyik, Nigro; Bouman, Stensness, Bozanic, De Silva; Kuol, Urena
We say: Perth Glory 1-1 Central Coast Mariners
With three wins and two draws each, both teams have been decent over the last month. They are balanced at both ends of the pitch and although the visitors are yet to draw a game this season, we predict a close contest with a share of the spoils.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Perth Glory win with a probability of 44.58%. A win for Central Coast Mariners had a probability of 32.05% and a draw had a probability of 23.4%.
The most likely scoreline for a Perth Glory win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.07%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (7.36%) and 2-0 (6.34%). The likeliest Central Coast Mariners win was 1-2 (7.53%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10.52%). The actual scoreline of 1-2 was predicted with a 7.5% likelihood.
