Perth Glory welcome Newcastle Jets to the Nib Stadium on Saturday, with just three points separating the sides at the bottom end of the Australian A-League table.
After a run of four consecutive defeats, Newcastle Jets find themselves in 11th spot and just four points above basement side Melbourne Victory, while Saturday's hosts sit a place above and three points better off, having played two games fewer than their opponents.
Match preview
© Reuters
Perth Glory come into this game in a disappointing run of form, having failed to pick up a win from their last five league outings.
As a result, Richard Garcia's side have dropped into the bottom three of the Australian top flight, after a strong start to the campaign when they won four of their first six matches.
However, they secured an encouraging point last time out, as they drew 1-1 at home to Sydney FC, who had previously won their last two games.
Bruno Fornaroli put the Glory ahead on the stroke of half time, but they were forced to share the points as Bobo equalised for the visitors in the second half.
That was just the second point that Garcia's side have picked up in the last five games, but it is definitely a result that will encourage the Perth outfit as they look to bounce back from a poor run of form and move back up the league.
Saturday presents a great opportunity to get that elusive win, as they take on a Newcastle Jets side who have lost their last four league outings.
However, the visitors find themselves in a similar position in the league and will also be looking to return to winning ways to move out of the bottom three.
Newcastle Jets suffered another disappointing defeat last time out, as Adelaide United cruised to a 4-1 away win, with Kusini Yengi, Stefan Mauk, Ben Halloran and Craig Goodwin all scoring for the visitors in the first half, before Apostolos Stamatelopoulos netted a second-half consolation goal for the Jets.
That stretched their league losing run to four games, having previously fallen to losses at the hands of Wellington Phoenix, Adelaide United and Sydney FC.
As a result, they now sit in 11th spot in the A-League, with just 11 points from their 13 league fixtures this season.
That is largely down to their poor attacking record, with no other A-League side netting as few as the 11 goals that the Jets have bagged so far this campaign.
Craig Deans will be desperate to change that in this game, as his team take on a fellow struggling side, with a victory on Saturday moving them level on points with the Glory.
- W
- L
- L
- D
- L
- D
- D
- W
- L
- L
- L
- L
Team News
© Reuters
Perth Glory could remain without Nick Sullivan for this game, as he was absent from the squad last time out after coming off at half time in the defeat to Western Sydney Wanderers.
They were also without attacker Nicholas D'Agostino last time out, and he could remain out of contention for this clash.
Garcia did change up his side for the game against Sydney FC, as Jonathan Aspropotamitis came into the starting team at centre-back, with Luke Bodnar dropped to the bench.
Similarly, experienced forward Andy Keogh was also on the bench, as youngster Ciaran Bramwell started alongside Bruno Fornaroli, although Keogh could be called upon to return to the lineup on Saturday.
Fornaroli will lead the line once again, having netted eight goals from 11 appearances this season.
Newcastle Jets will be without Jason Hoffman, who has been out for the last six games with a groin injury.
They will also face the loss of their centre-back and captain Nigel Boogaard, who will serve a suspension after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season last time out.
Perth Glory possible starting lineup:
Reddy; Rawlins, Aspropotamitis, Lachman, Ota; Stynes, Malik, Kilkenny, Castro; Fornaroli, Keogh
Newcastle Jets possible starting lineup:
Italiano; Topor-Stanley, Boogaard, Koutroumbis; Millar, Ugarkovic, Prso, Thurgate, O'Toole; O'Donovan, Stamatelopoulos
We say: Perth Glory 1-0 Newcastle Jets
We expect this to be a very tight encounter between two sides struggling at the bottom of the league, but we just give the edge to the hosts.
While Newcastle Jets have suffered due to their lack of goals, Bruno Fornaroli has kept his side competitive with a clinical run of form this season, and he should be the difference on Saturday, firing his side to a narrow victory.
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 38.36%. A win for Perth Glory had a probability of 36.92% and a draw had a probability of 24.7%.
The most likely scoreline for a Newcastle Jets win was 1-2 with a probability of 8.48%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (8.01%) and 0-2 (5.89%). The likeliest Perth Glory win was 2-1 (8.3%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.52%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with an 8.3% likelihood.
