Melbourne City will be looking to extend their winning start to 2020 when they head to the Sunshine State to take on Brisbane Roar at Suncorp Stadium. See the five things we’re looking forward to ahead of Saturday afternoon’s encounter.
A chance to continue the 2020 winning momentum
Following back-to-back losses for the first time under Erick Mombaerts, City responded with a 3-2 win over Western United at AAMI Park in Round 13.
Opening the new year with three points, City will be eager to extend the winning momentum in 2020 when they head to Brisbane to take on the Roar at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday.
In a clash that will see City return to Melbourne with consecutive home games, the side in City blue will be eager to claim the three points. In Rounds 15 and 16, City will host Newcastle Jets and Perth Glory at AAMI Park, so get in quick and grab your tickets here!
Round six redemption
Our early season winning streak came to an end at the hands of Brisbane back in Round 6 in what was a seven-goal thriller.
Jamie Maclaren scored twice in the first half to get City off to a flyer, before Roy O’Donovan clawed one back for the hosts in the 50th minute but Maclaren answered immediately to restore the two-goal lead and complete his hattrick. Three goals in 23 minutes, including two to O’Donovan, saw the Roar run over City for their first win of the season, ending City’s winning streak in the process.
Extending our hold on second spot
Despite a mixed bag of results in the last month, we still sit in second place on the table, nine points behind Sydney FC. Sitting just four points below in third are Perth Glory who have a game in hand and a strong goal difference.
With the Glory at home this round to Adelaide United, it is crucial that we pick up all three points and ensure Perth aren’t able to make up any ground.
Maclaren v O’Donovan
The last time these teams met was a shootout with both strikers netting hattricks. Since this fixture, O’Donovan has struggled to find the back of the net, scoring just twice in the six games since and starting on the bench for Brisbane’s last two fixtures.
In the same time period of time, Maclaren has scored five times and played 90 minutes in each game. Although O’Donovan may appear to be the more out of form of the two, he is still extremely capable of breaking a game open and City’s defence will have to be at its best.
Last trip to Queensland for the season
With the fixture earlier in the season also having been away from home, this weekend will mark our last trip to Brisbane for the season. In fact, it will be one of our last big trips with just one more away game against Wellington to come in round 19 and one more trip to Perth in Round 22. With eight of our last 13 games being played in our home state, we will have a great chance to finish the season strongly and a win this weekend away from home will put us in a great position to do just that.
