Newcastle Jets will look to end a seven-game losing run on Tuesday, when they welcome Perth Glory to the Newcastle International Sports Centre.
The hosts currently sit in 11th spot in the Australian A-League table and will be hoping to bounce back from a disappointing defeat to basement side Melbourne Victory last time out, while the Glory sit just six points ahead in 10th place having lost two consecutive games in the top flight.
Match preview
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Newcastle Jets suffered a disappointing defeat last time out, when they hosted Melbourne Victory in a game between the A League's bottom two sides.
The Jets took an early lead through Apostolos Stamatelopoulos, but Dylan Ryan equalised before Lleyton Brooks netted a winner for the Victory in the final 10 minutes.
That condemned Craig Deans's side to a seventh consecutive loss in the Australian top flight, having conceded 15 goals in those seven games.
Deans will be desperate for his side to put an end to that run of form in this game, as that would reduce the gap between themselves and their opponents in 10th place to just three points, potentially kickstarting their rise up the table.
However, they take on a Perth Glory side who are also hopeful of ending a poor run of form, having lost their last two league matches.
Richard Garcia's men suffered a narrow away defeat to third-placed Sydney FC last time out, as Kosta Barbarouses netted the only goal of the game in the 52nd minute.
Before that, the Glory fell to a 2-0 defeat away at Macarthur, as a first-half Matt Derbyshire brace made the difference between the two sides.
As a result of their dip in form, Garcia's men have dropped into the bottom three of the A-League table, now sitting just six points ahead of the Jets and basement side Melbourne Victory, after they previously sat in a lofty position thanks to a strong start to the domestic season, when they won four of their first six games.
The Glory have now won just one of the eight games since that start, but Garcia will be hopeful that his side can record an important victory on Tuesday, as they take on a side in a poor run of form without any real confidence.
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Team News
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Newcastle Jets remain badly hit by injuries, with captain Nigel Boogaard continuing his spell out of action.
Meanwhile, attacker Tete Yengi and important midfielder John Koutroumbis remain out through injuries.
Despite the side's poor run, Craig Deans opted to make no changes to his team for the last game, but he could look to switch things up for Monday after another poor result.
Attacker Apostolos Stamatelopoulos will come into this game with some confidence, having netted his first two goals of the season in the last four matches.
Perth Glory have also struggled with injuries recently, as midfielders Nick Sullivan and Diego Castro out of contention.
Meanwhile, attackers Daniel Stynes and Nicholas D'Agostino also remain out through injury.
However, Garcia is not lacking options in his forward line, having found a way to field Bruno Fornaroli, Andy Keogh, Ciaran Bramwell and Carlo Armiento last time out.
Fornaroli has led the Glory's attack this season, registering eight goals and three assists in 14 A-League appearances.
Newcastle Jets possible starting lineup:
Italiano; Millar, Topor-Stanley, Jackson, O'Toole; Ugarkovic, Thurgate; Stamatelopoulos, Najjarine, Yuel; O'Donovan
Perth Glory possible starting lineup:
Reddy; Geria, Langkamp, Lachman, Ota; Armiento, Malik, Kilkenny, Bramwell; Keogh, Fornaroli
We say: Newcastle Jets 1-2 Perth Glory
Given their current poor run of form, we cannot look past another Newcastle Jets defeat in this game, as the side look devoid of confidence and quality.
We expect the Glory to get back to winning ways on Tuesday, especially with their strong attack squaring off against one of the league's weakest back lines.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Newcastle Jets win with a probability of 42.13%. A win for Perth Glory had a probability of 32.58% and a draw had a probability of 25.3%.
The most likely scoreline for a Newcastle Jets win was 1-0 with a probability of 9.34%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.9%) and 2-0 (6.96%). The likeliest Perth Glory win was 0-1 (8.02%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.95%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with an 12% likelihood.
