Aiming to avoid a sixth consecutive league defeat, Newcastle Jets welcome Western United to the McDonald Jones Stadium on Monday.
On the other hand, the visiting team just returned to winning ways last time out, and they now go in search of a second win on the trot.
Match preview
Newcastle Jets were left empty-handed for the third away game running as they succumbed to a 2-1 defeat on Thursday against Perth Glory at HBF park.
Ciaran Bramwell and Darryl Lachman gave the hosts a deserved two-goal lead in the first half, and the Jets were unavailable to find an equaliser despite Roy O'Donovan pulling one back 15 minutes after the restart.
Craig Deans's men had 16 more shots than their opponents on the day, but they failed to make the most of their opportunities.
The Jets have scored the fewest league goals this term, so it is no surprise to see them bottom but one in the A-League table.
However, Monday's hosts will fancy their chances of kick-starting their season against a team that they have beaten in two of the last three meetings.
Western United were victorious on home turf for the second consecutive game with an impressive 2-1 triumph over Melbourne City on Thursday.
Mark Rudan's men were behind at the interval thanks to Craig Noone's strike inside the opening 15 minutes, but Lachlan Wales levelled matters just past the hour mark before Besart Berisha completed the comeback five minutes later.
United moved into eighth place courtesy of that win, and they are now just two points away from the last playoff spot, which is currently occupied by Sydney FC.
Monday's trip to Newcastle begins a run of three away games on the bounce for the visitors, who have the second-worst record on the road in the entire division.
- W
- L
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- W
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Team News
In the Jets' last home game, Johnny Koutroumbis suffered a torn ligament which will see the 23-year-old miss the next one month of action at the least.
Ben Kantarovski is also expected to be unavailable for the game, while Lucas Mauragis and Archie Goodwin are down with ankle injuries.
Joshua Risdon remains sidelined with a leg injury, but it should not be too long before the Australian makes his return to action.
Sebastian Pasquali joins his compatriot on the treatment table with a hip problem keeping him out since the end of last August.
Newcastle Jets possible starting lineup:
Italiano; O'Toole, Topor-Stanley, Jackson, Millar; Ugarkovic, Prso, Najjarine; Yuel, O'Donovan; Stamatelopoulos
Western United possible starting lineup:
Scott; Uskok, Durante, Imai; Pain, Lustica, Duzel, Pierias; Wales, Berisha, Guarrotxena
We say: Newcastle Jets 1-1 Western United
The Jets are on a bad run of form at the moment, but they will be going up against a side who have struggled on the road all season long. As a result, we are backing a share of the spoils in this one, which would not do either side too much good.
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 Newcastle Jets win with a probability of 38.81%. A win for Western United had a probability of 36.33% and a draw had a probability of 24.9%.
The most likely scoreline for a Newcastle Jets win was 2-1 with a probability of 8.54%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (8.23%) and 2-0 (6.04%). The likeliest Western United win was 1-2 (8.22%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.62%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 7.9% likelihood.
