Expert
It’s a battle of two sides still searching for their first win in the A-League when the Perth Glory host the Central Coast Mariners. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 7pm (AEDT).
Comming off a man of the match performance, Danny De Silva makes his return to the club where he debuted and spent four seasons, and already with a goal to his name in Mariners colours, he will be looking to inflict pain on his former club.
He has been part of a Mariners attack which has threatened but struggled to get the job done across the first two rounds. It was important for them to bounce back last week though, and they did after being belted by rivals Newcastle United in the opening game of the season.
A 5-1 loss is not the way any team wants to start, so to bounce back and secure a 2-2 draw with the Western Sydney Wanderers last week was a solid turnaround in fortunes. They need to set their sights on getting their first win of the season though, and with a failing defence who have already leaked seven goals, it’s going to be easier said than done.
A trip to Perth is among the toughest in the A-League, and this will be their first home game of the season after a tough start on the road.
They went down to the Western Sydney Wanderers 2-1 in the first round, before travelling to Newcastle and slotting a couple of goals to get their first competition point with a 2-2 draw.
It was only a late goal from Adam Taggart which brought them back to the drawn scoreline though. He scored a double last week, while their only goal against the Wanderers was an own goal. That was set up in many respects by Andy Keogh though, with the attacker having a strong start to the season.
Keogh and Taggart appear to be the key men if the Glory are going to run their way past the Mariners, with their sloppy defence a major cause for concern against the explosive duo.
Still, the Mariners need to keep a focus on attack – it seems at times they won’t have the cattle to play the defence required, and that’s where the combination of De Silva and Asdrubal must come into its own.
In team news, the Glory welcome back Alex Grant and Shane Lowry while the Mariners have promoted Trent Buhagiar, Adam Berry and Lachlan Wales at the expense of the suspended Andrew Hoole.
Prediction
This should be a reasonably high-scoring game, but on a tough trip west, the Mariners will come up well short of the mark.
Glory 3 – Mariners 1.
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