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The Newcastle Jets return home, after their first loss of the season, to host a Melbourne Victory coming off their first win of the season. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 7:50pm (AEDT).
They say a week is a long time in football. For Newcastle, it’s an eternity.
A week ago, they were unbeaten and top of the league. Tonight, they come in on the back of their first loss, and missing the league’s leading goal scorer, Roy O’Donovan, as well as their first-choice goalkeeper, Jack Duncan.
In the words of a famous newsreader: Boy, that escalated quickly.
Funnily enough, Newcastle were somewhat unlucky against Sydney last week. Yes, the Sky Blues should have put the game away in the first half, but they didn’t, and if not for Duncan’s slippery hands in horrible conditions, we may well be talking about the still-undefeated Jets coming off a hard-fought draw against the reigning premiers and champions.
As for O’Donovan, he is a huge, near irreplaceable loss, however the Jets showed last week that they still have firepower, and Dimi Petratos appears to be really enjoying the responsibility and limelight that comes with holding the wand in the middle of the park.
Melbourne, on the other hand, will travel north with the wind in their sails and confidence in their hearts after a well-deserved victory against a struggling Perth kick-started their campaign.
However, teams historically struggle to back up on another road trip after playing in Perth the week before, and the loss of Mitch Austin to a season-ending injury is a tragedy and extremely bad luck for the youngster. Offsetting this for Melbourne is having Besart Berisha back, as proven last week, while the return Kosta Barbarouses is another big plus.
The Victory, including FFA Cup fixtures, are unbeaten in their last six against the Jets, but the latter have a horrid record against most teams these days, and this is very much a new team.
Prediction
Newcastle will have to show what they’re made of, and prove that the first seven rounds have not been a fluke. Any team can poach results unexpectedly, but the true quality sides perform when the expectation sits on their shoulders.
This is a new Newcastle, and at home, they should be driven to get the chocolates.
Newcastle 3-1.