After last weekend’s enthralling 2-all draw at home against Western Sydney Wanderers last weekend, the Mariners are back in action in the Isuzu UTE A-League Men’s competition on Saturday afternoon against Sydney FC.
Currently sitting in second with a two point buffer on third place Western Sydney, Nick Montgomery and his side are keen to secure an important victory over the Sky Blues as we look to chase down Melbourne City.
Team News
The Central Coast Mariners have made two changes to the 20-man squad that secured a point last weekend.
Beni Nkololo returns after serving his one-week suspension against the Wanderers, with the Frenchman aiming to be straight back into the side.
New signing Dylan Wenzel-Halls joins the squad for the very first time after making the switch from Western United this week, while both Storm Roux and Jacob Farrell are fit and aiming to be named in tomorrow’s side. James Bayliss and Paul Ayongo drop out of the squad.
Sydney FC have not made any changes to the side that defeated Melbourne last weekend, with Adrian Segecic and Jaiden Kucharski both promoted into the squad after missing out on selection last weekend.
Former England international Jack Rodwell will again miss the match due to injury.
Recent Form
The Mariners solid form continued last weekend, securing a draw against a strong Western Sydney side despite missing numerous players through injury.
The Central Coast have won three of our last five matches, only going down to Wellington away a fortnight ago in a match that could have gone either way.
The point last weekend maintained the Mariners position in second on the Isuzu UTE A-League men’s ladder, five points behind Melbourne City.
Sydney FC have been unpredictable of late, picking up seven of a possible 15 points in 2023.
After a tough late loss to Western United, the Sky Blues bounced back against Melbourne Victory last weekend. After conceding first, goals from Max Burgess and Adam Le Fondre secured them the three points in the Big Blue.
Sydney FC currently sit in eighth place on the A-League ladder, with their win over Victory pushing them up from tenth.
Previous Meetings
Sydney FC and the Central Coast Mariners have had a heated rivalry since the A-League competition began, with games regularly going either way throughout the past 18 seasons.
The Sky Blues have won 25 of the 51 matches played between the two sides, with the Mariners winning 15 of these. This is the first game to be played at Allianz Stadium with the two teams featuring since January 2018.
Of late it has been extremely close between the Central Coast and Sydney FC, with neither side winning three matches in a row against the other since 2018.
The Mariners were able to secure the three points in our most recent meeting despite going down early.
An 11th minute goal from Paulo Retre was cancelled out by strikes from Marco Tulio and Dan Hall, with the Central Coast holding out for a deserved three points.
Squads
Sydney FC squad
1. Andrew REDMAYNE (GK), 2. James DONACHIE, 4. Alex WILKINSON ©, 8. Paulo RETRE, 9. Adam LE FONDRE, 10. Joe LOLLEY, 11. Robert MAK, 12. Pat WOOD, 16. Patrick YAZBEK, 17. Anthony CACERES, 18. Diego CABALLO, 19. Adrian SEGECIC, 20. Thomas HEWARD-BELLE (GK), 21. Alex PARSONS, 22. Max BURGESS, 23. Rhyan GRANT, 25. Jaiden KUCHARSKI, 26. Luke BRATTAN, 28. Jake GIRDWOOD-REICH, 29. Aaron GURD.
(2-4 to be omitted)
Ins: 19. Adrian SEGECIC (promoted), 25. Jaiden KUCHARSKI (promoted)
Outs: None
Unavailable: 6. Jack RODWELL (injured).
Central Coast Mariners Squad
2. Thomas AQUILINA, 3. Brian KALTAK, 4. Joshua NISBET, 6. Maximilien BALARD, 7. Samuel SILVERA, 9. Jason CUMMINGS, 11. Beni NKOLOLO, 13. Harrison STEELE, 14. Dylan WENZEL-HALLS, 15. Storm ROUX, 18. Jacob FARRELL, 20. Daniel VUKOVIC (c) (gk), 21. Michael RUHS, 22. Cameron WINDUST 23. Daniel HALL, 24. Yaren SOZER (gk), 25. Nectarios TRIANTIS, 27. Sasha KUZEVSKI, 31. Christian THEOHAROUS, 98. MARCO TULIO
Ins: 11. Beni Nkololo, 14. Dylan Wenzel-Halls
Outs: 28. James Bayliss, 90. Paul Ayongo
Unavailable: 10. Matheus MORESCHE (injured), 26. Bradley TAPP (injured)
MATCH DETAILS
Sydney FC vs Central Coast Mariners
Saturday, February 4th
Kick-off: 5:00pm AEDT
Allianz Stadium, Sydney
Broadcast: The match will be broadcast live on Paramount+
