Melbourne Victory have an opportunity to surpass Macarthur in the A-League standings on Saturday when they face them at Campbelltown Sports Stadium in New South Wales.
Before the World Cup break, the Bulls came away with a 3-2 victory thanks to an injury-time strike versus the Central Coast Mariners, while the team from Victoria are a point behind them in seventh after falling 3-0 to Adelaide United in November.
Match preview
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Consistency from one match to another has been an issue for Macarthur so far in this domestic campaign, as they have yet to win consecutive games.
They have had difficulty remaining poised and compact along the backline lately, conceding multiple goals in three straight league affairs, allowing the opening strike in two of their previous three fixtures.
Macarthur have only been shut out once so far in this campaign, which should come as no surprise when you consider they are led by one of the most prolific foreign strikers in Premier League history during his playing days, Dwight Yorke.
The Trinidad and Tobago legend guided this expansion team to its first-ever trophy earlier this season, capturing the Australian Cup just three months after replacing Ante Milicic as the new manager.
The Bells find themselves in a position to qualify for the Finals series for the second time in three seasons, currently in fourth, three points back of Adelaide for third.
Defensively Macarthur were sharp through their opening three matches, conceding only once, but it has been a different story for them recently as they have allowed a total of nine goals in their previous three encounters, including three versus Sydney FC in their last home outing, which they lost 3-2.
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Big V might want some pointers from the Macarthur boss on how to score as Tony Popovic's men have struggled in that department away from home without a goal in their previous two road outings.
Their seven goals scored so far in this domestic campaign is the lowest output for this club at this stage of the competition since the 2020-21 season.
Victory are unbeaten when scoring the opening goal this year, though they have only managed to do that once, blanking the Newcastle Jets 4-0 at home in early November.
Melbourne have already suffered three defeats in the A-League this year, one fewer than they had in the entire 2021-22 campaign when they finished second behind their arch-rivals Melbourne City before losing their Finals series to Western United 4-2 on aggregate.
Wide overloads and through balls to their centre-forwards enabled this team to achieve great success during the 2021-22 league season, but they have been a little timid in the attacking third so far over this campaign, failing to score in four of their seven matches.
After losing their first two games against Macarthur in 2020-21, Melbourne emerged victorious in both encounters last season, outscoring them 7-2 over that stretch.
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Goals from Al Hassan Toure and Jonathan Aspropotamitis gave Macarthur a 2-0 lead in their previous league fixture, but it was a 95th-minute effort from Jed Drew which proved decisive as the Bulls won their first road game of the new season.
Filip Kurto is tied for third in the A-League regarding clean sheets, both of which came in his opening two matches of the year, Matthew Millar has failed to score in his last two domestic affairs as he is tied with Lachlan Rose for the team lead in goals with two.
Only five Macarthur players kept their place in the starting 11 from Matchday Five to Six, including Ivan Vujica, Tomislav Uskok, Matthew Millar, Daniel De Silva and Craig Noone.
Melbourne keeper Paul Izzo had a rough outing in his last A-League start, conceding on three of the five shots fired his way, though he has a pair of clean sheets from earlier in the campaign.
Nicholas D'Agostino had a brace in their 3-1 win at home to Macarthur last season, while they got goals from Ben Folami, Jake Brimmer, Roderick and captain Joshua Brillante when they defeated them 4-1 at Campbelltown Stadium in 2021-22.
Matthew Spiranovic is dealing with a foot injury and might not be ready to return this weekend as Popovic has gone with a back four of Cadete, Roderick, Leigh Broxham and Stefan Nigro in three straight league games.
Macarthur possible starting lineup:
Kurto; Vujica, McGing, Uskok, Millar; Skotadis; Rose, M'Mombwa, De Silva, Noone; Carter
Melbourne Victory possible starting lineup:
Izzo; Cadete, Roderick, Broxham, Nigro; Marchan, Brillante; Folami, Brimmer, Konstandopoulos; D'Agostino
We say: Macarthur 2-1 Melbourne Victory
At the moment, Melbourne look a little unsettled when defending away from home, taking too long to get into a game, and although Macarthur have been inconsistent, they have shown a lot more quality in the attacking third this season when compared to their opponents.
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Joel Lefevre
