The Roar's A-League Men tips and predictions: Round 26 - the jostle for finals positions is on in earnest
Here is the way the Roar expert panel sees all the action unfolding across the final weekend of play prior to the semi-finals.
The Central Coast Mariners have added another win to their ledger on Sunday, defeating Adelaide United 2-1.
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Final score
Central Coast Mariners 2
Adelaide United 1
It’s the battle to avoid the wooden spoon in the capital as the Central Coast Mariners host Adelaide United at their home away from home in Canberra this afternoon. Join The Roar for live scores from the match starting from 5pm AEDT.
The Mariners were superb last week as they romped to a 2-0 win over Perth Glory last weekend, with that win taking them off the bottom of the ladder, placing last year’s premiers Adelaide on the bottom of it.
Bad news for United is the Central Coast will get their suspended striker Roy O’Donovan back for the clash, which means Adelaide will be up against it after recently releasing Henrique and Sergio Guardiola from their contracts.
The motivation in this game simply comes from the fact that neither team will want to finish on the bottom of the ladder at the end of the season.
This game will be won in the midfield, with Mariners captain Nick Montgomery controlling it for his side in the middle of the park.
Marcelo Carrusca will need to be at his creative best this afternoon, he returns to the side this week after battling injury and spending time on the sidelines. If he can produce some quality in the final third, then the Reds will have a good chance in this one.
In their history of head-to-heads, the Mariners hold the edge winning 17 games to 13. They once played in Canberra back in 2009 which produced an uninspiring 0-0 draw.
The last time these two sides met it was the Central Coast winning 2-1 that struck twice in the second half with the Reds only goal coming from Sergio Guardiola.
Prediction
Both these sides have been awful this season however this type of season was not expected from Adelaide, they look a shadow of the side that swept all before them on that magical run last season, with the Mariners coming into this one on a win I am going with them.
1-0 Mariners
Join The Roar for live scores from the match starting from 5pm AEDT.