Sydney FC will be out to continue their strong run of form against the Mariners at Central Coast Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Sky Blues have dominated this fixture in the last few years, losing just one of their last 12 clashes against the Gosford club.
But both sides will be looking to bounce back to form after suffering defeats in Round 5.
The Mariners conceded in the 95th minute to lose 3-2 to Perth Glory, while Sydney FC were beaten 2-1 by bitter rivals Melbourne Victory.
There is a bit of added spice in this one as well, with Mariners skipper Matt Simon coming up against his former club.
But Daniel De Silva, who is on loan at Sydney FC from the Mariners, is unable to play against his parent club.
There promises to be plenty of goals in this one as well, with only one clean sheet kept by either team in the last seven meetings between the sides in Gosford, with a total of 27 goals scored in that time.
Key Opta stats
- Sydney FC has won nine of their last 12 games against the Central Coast Mariners (D2, L1), including a 2-1 victory when they met in March this year.
- Mariners boss Mike Mulvey has earned 1.7 points per game against Sydney FC in his Hyundai A-League career as a manager; only against Wellington (2.5) and Adelaide (1.9) does he average more.
- The Sky Blues have allowed their opposition just 15 shots on target thus far in 2018/19, the equal fewest of any team in the competition alongside Perth Glory.
Ins and outs
Central Coast Mariners squad: 1.Ben KENNEDY (gk), 3.Jack CLISBY, 4.Jake McGING, 5.Antony GOLEC, 6.Tom HIARIEJ, 7.Andrew HOOLE, 8.Michael McGLINCHEY, 11.Connor PAIN, 12.Adam PEARCE (gk), 13.Aiden O’NEILL, 15.Kye ROWLES, 16.Josh MACDONALD, 17.Peter KEKERIS, 18.Matt MILLAR, 19.Matt SIMON (c), 22.Jacob MELLING, 23.Mario SHABOW, 44.Ross McCORMACK
**two to be omitted**
Ins: 6.Tom HIARIEJ (promoted), 16.Josh MACDONALD (promoted), 17.Peter KEKERIS (promoted), 23.Mario SHABOW (promoted)
Outs: 20.Kalifa CISSE (suspended), 25.Jordan MURRAY (ankle)
Unavailable: 2.Jonathan ASPROPOTAMITIS (ACL), 10.Tommy OAR (knee), 21.Corey GAMEIRO (calf)
Sydney FC squad: 1.Andrew REDMAYNE (gk), 2.Aaron CALVER, 4.Alex WILKINSON, 5.Jop van der LINDEN, 6.Josh BRILLANTE, 7.Michael ZULLO, 8.Paulo RETRE, 9.Adam LE FONDRE, 10.Milos NINKOVIC, 13.Brandon O’NEILL, 14.Alex BROSQUE (c), 20.Alex CISAK (gk), 21.Charles LOKOLI-NGOY, 23.Rhyan GRANT, 24.Cam DEVLIN, 25.Joel KING, 31. Luke IVANOVIC.
**two to be omitted**
Ins: 25.Joel KING (promoted), 31. Luke IVANOVIC (promoted), 18. Jacob TRATT (promoted)
Outs: 11.Daniel DE SILVA (unavailable – due to loan agreement)
Unavailable: 3.Ben WARLAND (foot – 4 weeks), 12.Trent BUHAGIAR (ACL – indefinite), 19. Chris ZUVELA (knee – indefinite), 22.Siem DE JONG (2 weeks – hamstring)
How to watch
Tune in to FOX SPORTS 505 to see what happens at Central Coast Stadium from 5:35pm (AEDT), or catch it on the MyFootball Live App, Live Fast and Data Free for Telstra mobile customers.
