Melbourne City FC are set to face off against A-League newcomers Macarthur FC for the first time ever this Friday night, with the two sides in strong positions as we enter the second-third of the season.
Jamie Maclaren has recovered from a slow start to the season to hit some scintillating form in recent weeks, recording five goals and three assists in his last three games.
Macca on the scoresheet already ✅
Perfect start away from home ✅📹 @FOXFOOTBALL #CmonCity #WSWvMCY #ALeague pic.twitter.com/Y4G7jrQ9kl
— Melbourne City FC (@MelbourneCity) March 2, 2021
Matt Derbyshire has similarly worked his way into the season, with his hattrick against Adelaide United kicking off a good run of form over the past month.
The two strikers currently occupy first and second position in the Golden Boot race, with Maclaren narrowly edging Derbyshire with eight goals to seven.
However, Derbyshire has a two-game buffer over the City #9, emphasised by Maclaren scoring a goal every 100.9 minutes to Derbyshire’s goal every 129.1 minutes.
Maclaren also leads the league for total shots with 35, whilst Derbyshire comes in at third with 31, making for near-identical shot conversion rates of 22.9% and 22.6%. The strikers also share a similar shooting accuracy, with 48.6% and 45.2% of their shots on-target.
An absolute 🍑 of a ball by Flo was expertly finished by JMac for his third goal in as many games.
📽 @FOXFOOTBALL#CmonCity #CCMvMCY #ALeague pic.twitter.com/7X0sCBaoBc
— Melbourne City FC (@MelbourneCity) February 3, 2021
Both strikers have proven deadly from close-range, with 14 of their combined 15 goals coming from within the penalty area.
However, where Maclaren really stands out this year is his four assists, putting him behind only Alessandro Diamanti, Neil Kilkenny and Corey Brown, all on five. Derbyshire, by comparison, has recorded just one.
