- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
The Central Coast Mariners will need to produce something special away from home to defeat Sanfrecce Hiroshima and qualify for the Asian Champions League knockout stages. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 8:00pm (AEST).
The Mariners are one game away from back-to-back A-League grand final appearances, but their Asian Champions League destiny is on a tightrope after last week’s defeat.
Phil Moss’ men now need a win away from home to give themselves the best chance of progressing past the group stages of the ACL. Standing in their way are Sanfrecce Hiroshima, a team keen for revenge following a surprise 1-0 defeat to the Mariners early in the campaign.
With little room for error for both teams, tonight’s contest should be tight. The gap between the A-League and J-League has narrowed considerably if this season’s results are anything to go by.
The Central Coast side certainly have the attitude needed to cause the upset. The Mariners always seem to conjure up results when their backs are up against the wall and it certainly is tonight away from home.
Sanfrecce are expected to perform well at home en route to securing the three points. With this in mind, Hiroshima should dominate possession.
The Mariners, however, are at their best when playing on the counterattack, as demonstrated in their 1-0 finals win over Adelaide last week.
Adelaide dominated possession but hardly created any chances of note, and were made to pay dearly when Bernie Ibini scored the winner after a neat counterattack by the Mariners.
The Mariners have played plenty of football over the past few days, so fatigue may get the better of them here. Hiroshima should do enough to earn the win, but expect the Central Coast to go down fighting.
Hiroshima to win 2-1