Melbourne City will welcome Central Coast Mariners to AAMI Park for an Australian A League matchday eight fixture on Saturday (December 15th).
The home side are coming into the game on the back of a 1-1 draw against Chinese outfit Zhejiang Professional in the AFC Champions League at the same venue. Second half strikes from Tolgay Arslan and Nyasha Mushekwi saw the two sides cancel each other out.
The City Blues will turn their focus back to the domestic scene where their last game saw them claim a 2-1 away victory over Perth Glory.
Central Coast Mariners, meanwhile, dispatched Stallion with a 3-0 away victory in the AFC Cup. Marco Tulio scored a brace, with his strikes coming either side of Christian Theoharous' goal to guide his side to victory.
Their last league game came in a comfortable 4-0 home victory over Western United.
The win saw them climb to ninth spot in the table, having garnered seven points from as many games. Melbourne City are seventh with 10 points to show for their efforts in seven games.
Melbourne City vs Central Coast Mariners Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
- This will be the 38th meeting between the two sides. Melbourne City have 16 wins to their name, while the Mariners were victorious on 13 occasions.
- Their most recent meeting came in June 2023 when Central Coast Mariners claimed a 6-1 victory in the A League playoff final.
- Four of the last five head-to-head games have witnessed goals at both ends.
- Six of Central Coast Mariners' last seven games across competitions have produced three goals or more.
- Melbourne City have won just one of their last eight home competitive games.
Melbourne City vs Central Coast Mariners Prediction
Melbourne City are on their best run of form this season, having gone four games without defeat across competitions.
Central Coast Mariners have not had the title defense they would have expected. However, they have turned a positive corner in recent weeks and are on a five-game unbeaten streak.
This will be a rematch of the playoff final last season and Melbourne will be keen to avoid a repeat of the defeat they suffered on that occasion. We are backing the two sides to cancel each other out in a stalemate.
Prediction: Melbourne City 2-2 Central Coast Mariners
Melbourne City vs Central Coast Mariners Betting Tips
Tip 1 - Result: Draw
Tip 2 - Both teams to score
Tip 3 - Over 2.5 goals
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