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Western United will host Melbourne City at the AAMI Park on Thursday in a matchday 14 fixture in the A-League.
The hosts currently sit in 10th spot in the league, having garnered 14 points from 11 games to date. Melbourne City are in third place, with 24 points accrued from 12 matches.
Western United suffered a 2-1 defeat away to Macarthur in their most recent fixture. First-half goals from Matt Derbyshire and Markel Susaeta helped the hosts to a comeback victory after Dylan Pierias had given the visitors an eighth-minute lead.
Melbourne City ran riot in a 4-1 thrashing of Western Sydney Wanderers on Friday. Bernie Ibini-Isei had given the visitors an early lead in the game but Craig Noone starred with a brace to inspire a convincing victory.
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Western United vs Melbourne City Head-to-Head
Western United are one of the newer clubs in the A-League, having only been formed in 2018.
They have traded tackles with Melbourne City on five previous occasions, with City boasting a 100% win record.
Their most recent meeting came in January, when goals from Craig Noone and Jamie Macathur helped Melbourne City to a 2-1 comeback victory.
Western United have been in relatively poor form of late, with three losses registered in their last four league games. Melbourne City, by contrast, are the form team in the league. They have won their last six matches consecutively - a new club record - to soar up the standings.
Western United form guide: L-W-L-L-W
Melbourne City form guide: W-W-W-W-W
Western United vs Melbourne City Team News
Western United
The hosts have two players unavailable through injury. Joshua Risdon (tibia) and Sebastian Pasquali (hip) will miss the visit of Melbourne City.
There are no suspension concerns for manager Mark Rudan.
Injury: Joshua Risdon, Sebastian Pasquali
Suspension: None
Melbourne City
The visitors have Aiden O’Neill ruled out with a back injury. Defender Nuno Reiss was substituted in the first half against Central Coast Mariners and missed the game against Western City Wanderers.
However, manager Patrick Kisnorbo confirmed that Reiss has returned to training and could feature against Western United.
Injury: Aiden O'Neill
Doubtful: Nuno Reiss
Suspension: None
Western United vs Melbourne City Predicted XI
Western United Predicted XI (3-4-2-1): Ryan Scott (GK); Aaron Calver, Tomislav Uskok, Tamoki Imai; Connor Pain, Victor Sanchez, Luke Duzel, Dylan Pierias; Iker Guarrotxena, Alessandro Diamanti; Besart Berisha
Melbourne City Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Thomas Glover (GK); Scott Jamieson, Curtis Good, Rostyn Griffiths, Nathaniel Atkinson; Conor Metcaife, Adrian Luna; Craig Noone, Florin Berenguer, Andrew Nabbout; Jamie Maclaren
Western United vs Melbourne City Prediction
Form is undoubtedly with Melbourne City and the visitors will be looking to keep their club-record run of wins going in their bid for a maiden A-League title.
Western United are also capable of upsetting expectations and their compact style of play could cause problems for Melbourne City. However, we are predicting that the visitors' 100% win record against Western United will continue in a fairly comfortable victory.
Prediction: Western United 0-2 Melbourne City
