Roar Guru
Central Coast Mariners will be looking to qualify for their first Asian Champions League finals series when they face Nagoya Grampus Eight tonight. We’ll have live scores and commentary from 8.00pm AEST.
Providing Tianjin doesn’t upset Seongnam Ilhwa tonight, the winner of tonight’s fixture in Japan will claim second spot and progress to the knockout phase of the Asian Champions League.
The two teams have met once before during the campaign where they played out a 1-all draw on March 21 in Gosford, in a match that the Mariners dominated and were unlucky not to win.
The Japanese side are short odd favourites to win tonight’s match at $1.50 while the away side, Central Coast Mariners are at $5.50, which is very generous considering the Mariners are fresh off a two week break after thumping Tianjin Teda 5-1 in Gosford.
Mariners coach Graham Arnold, who re-signed with the club last week likens the match to a grand final.
“It’s one of the biggest games the teams played in and it’s like a grand final,” Arnold said.
Look for there to be lots of goals with the Mariners needing a win to qualify for the playoffs while a draw will be enough for Nagoya to progress to the final 16.
With Graham Arnold’s future secured, can the Mariners stage a memorable and unlikely away win in Nagoya tonight to advance? Find out from 8.00pm AEST as we cover the action with live scores and commentary, so if you’re following along please leave your thoughts in the space provided.