Central Coast Mariners face their penultimate away trip in the 2024/25 Isuzu UTE A-League season on Saturday, as they travel to AAMI Park to take on Melbourne City (5pm kick-off).
As we approach the end of the A-League season, a finals spot is still mathematically up or grabs and Mark Jackson is hoping for a strong finish from his side, as they look to build on momentum from a 2-2 draw in Auckland and a 3-1 win at home to Perth in the previous two matches.
Melbourne City sit third on the ladder in a congested top-six, a very respectable return from Aurelio Vidmar’s team who have, like the Mariners, had to deal with a number of injury woes throughout the season.
Melbourne City
City come into the game off the back of an impressive 3-2 win over Sydney last time out, a strong response to a shock defeat to Newcastle Jets at AAMI Park before the international break.
Alessandro Lopane scored on his return to A-League action following a lengthy spell on the sidelines, and Vidmar could have another boost to his squad this week with Matthew Leckie hopeful of recovering from a calf injury in time for Saturday.
Steven Ugarkovic will also return in midfield after serving a one-match suspension, but City are still without the experience of long-term absentees Andrew Nabbout (ACL) and James Jeggo (Achilles).
City have excelled defensively this season, conceding the least amount goals (20 – joint with Auckland) in 21 games, with Patrick Beach keeping nine clean sheets in his maiden A-League season.
However, at the other end, goals have not been so free-flowing. City have scored the fewest of any team in the top eight (30), which is eight less than the closest being Melbourne Victory.
City’s top scorer is Yonatan Cohen with four, followed by Ugarkovic and young forwards Marco Tilio, Medin Memeti and Max Caputo who all have three each.
Andreas Kuen is the standout player for the Mariners to watch, he only has two goals from his creative midfield role but leads the way in terms of assists (7) from only 12 starts.
Previously vs City
After historically struggling against Melbourne clubs, the Mariners have had the better of the recent record against City with three wins and three draws from the last six meetings, including the emphatic 2022/23 Grand Final success.
Our trip to AAMI Park to play City last season resulted in a thrilling 3-3 draw, whilst we recorded two 2-1 wins at home.
In the reverse fixture this season, Nathan Paull’s first A-League goal earned the Mariners a point after Samuel Souprayen opened the scoring in the first half.
A first professional goal for Paully the last time we took on City!
— Central Coast Mariners (@CCMariners) April 3, 2025
Next up for our men, we take on Melbourne at AAMI Park on Saturday night!#CCMFC #RideTheWave
pic.twitter.com/E2SGOgIzbl
City may have dominated possession that night, a common theme from their matches this season, as they average the second highest possession (54.5%) in the A-League this season, but the Mariners posed a threat especially from set pieces and generated more xG (0.81 vs 0.54).
Mark Jackson
Jacko discussed the weekend and highlighted the importance of transition moments against a strong Melbourne side this weekend.
Christian Theoharous
Christian was visibly in bright spirits after his goal and three points against Perth, sharing the story behind his trademark acrobatic celebration and looking ahead to a trip back to Melbourne.
