Our City boys will hope they can continue their recent run of good form against A-League newcomers when they take on Macarthur FC for the first time this Friday night.
We’d normally cover our recent form here, but you’ll hardly need to be reminded of the 6-0 win that we’re coming off. We’ll leave the highlights here just so you can savour it some more though.
Macarthur have been solid in their maiden A-League campaign and have been good value for their current second-place position, but are coming off a 2-0 defeat to the Mariners that deals a serious blow to their pursuit of the league leaders.
With Luna’s hamstring continuing to keep him out of the squad, and no other major ins or outs, here’s what we’re looking forward to ahead of Friday night:
Inaugural fixture against the Bulls
It’s the obvious talking point heading into this one, but the prospect of our first fixture against an in-form, star-studded Macarthur FC has never looked tastier.
Whilst we’ve successfully navigated the introduction of Western United into the league (five wins to zip, in case you needed reminding), it feels like Macarthur could pose a bit more of a threat heading into tomorrow’s game.
The Bulls have made a strong start to life in the A-League, currently occupying second place after 11 games. Aside from their Spanish superstars Markel Susaeta and Beñat, Macarthur also boast the league’s next-most lethal striker after Maclaren: Matt Derbyshire. The Englishman has recovered from a slow start to record seven goals and one assist this campaign, and will be looking to prove the differential between the teams on Friday night.
The return of good vibes amongst the City faithful
Following our run of three consecutive wins, confidence is sky-high amongst the playing group and fan base alike.
The stars are firing and the kids are stepping up to – look no further than Metcalfe’s brace, Cola’s debut goal and Atkinson’s bedding down of the right-back spot.
During this three-game run, we’ve scored 11 goals and kept two consecutive clean sheets.
All of these reasons together are why we want to see a massive turnout from the fans tomorrow night. It’s a Friday night blockbuster against class opposition in a historic fixture whilst we’re on a great run of form – what more do you need?
The litmus test of where we're at
We’ve sort of pumped them up enough as it is, but it needs to be emphasised again that we’re facing some proper opposition tomorrow night.
In a season where there’s been no standout title contender (other than the Mariners, who everyone’s still expecting to drop off at some point), it’s vital that we can knock off teams in the chasing pack, of which Macarthur are one of the better sides.
Sure, we can smash basket cases (Victory *cough, cough*) but these next two fixtures (with Mariners at home following this Macarthur game) will determine if we're really in title contention form or not.
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