After being hammered 5-0 last time out, the Central Coast Mariners will be hoping to keep their slender Asian Champions League hopes alive when they host Tianjin Teda from 7.30pm AEST.
After crashing out of the A-League finals on penalties it was understandable that motivation might have been a factor when the Mariners travelled to Seongnam Ilhwa three days later in their previous ACL encounter.
But they would not have expected to fall apart at the seams like they did, eventually losing 5-0 and putting a serious dent in their hopes of progressing to the next stage.
Tonight they have an opportunity to register their first win of the campaign against a Tianjin Teda side who have struggled in the group stage, managing only two draws to sit bottom of the table.
The question, as it was last time out, will be motivation. After a campaign that began back in July (in terms of preseason training) many of the players will be looking for a well-earned break and it could be a case of going through the motions tonight.
Three points will still be on offer though, and with neither side carrying any injuries, we might just see an open game of football, beginning at 7.30pm AEST tonight.
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