Thursday November 19
Melbourne Victory V Central Coast Mariners
AAMI Park, 8pm
Melbourne Victory have won their past five A-League matches against the Central Coast, scoring exactly three goals on four occasions.
Melbourne was fantastic last week, holding off a determined Sydney, before counter punching to record a 4-2 win.
The Mariners have had a tough time of it once again this season, currently sitting eighth, with their only win coming in round one against Perth Glory.
Central Coast have not won away from home in the A-League since April 2014, conceding 38 goals in those 18 matches. On top of that, they have not beaten the Victory on the road since November 2009. That poor run is set to continue, with striker Besart Berisha on fire of late and the Mariners will not have the defensive prowess to stop the in form Albanian, who has scored 13 goals in his last 14 games.
The Victory have scored three goals in their four home games, truly making the trip down to Melbourne a difficult one.
Melbourne Victory welcome back Connor Pain, Scott Galloway and Giancarlo Gallifuoco from Olyroos duty, while Jason Geria, Nick Ansell and Carl Valeri are all unavailable due to injury.
Harry Ascroft, Michael Neill and Jake Adelson come into the Mariners' squad.
Prediction: Victory 3- 0 Mariners
