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Writer's pictureJosh Gribling

Talking City's talking points: City vs Brisbane

The City boys are set for their first interstate league fixture of the season when they take on Brisbane Roar this Sunday afternoon.


Brisbane are in underwhelming form with just two points and one goal scored in their four games thus far.


City, as we’re well aware, are flying high at the top of the table following our unbeaten start to the season, with our most recent win coming against Central Coast last Friday, an evening which ended 3-1.



With such contrasting formlines, the result should realistically only go one way… right? Here’s three talking points ahead of this Sunday’s clash:


Player availability

We’ll be without Connor Metcalfe, Ramy Najjarine and Tom Glover this weekend after they were selected in the Olyroos (Australia U-23s) to take on China, DPR Korea and Lithuania – pick the odd one out in that group, eh? - in a series of international friendlies.


Glover wouldn’t have featured anyway and Najjarine might have only been an impact player off the bench, but it’s disappointing to lose Metcalfe following his impressive recent form.



We’re fortunate to have capable replacements however, with one of Luna or Genreau likely to take up the advanced midfield position whilst Griffiths and Brillante play deeper.


In other news, Jamie Maclaren will incredibly make his return from a hamstring injury sustained against Western United in Round 3, with many fans having expected him not to return for at least another week.


It’s great news though, considering who we’re set to play against…


Brisbane ‘Snore’

1-1. 0-1. 0-0. 0-1. What, is their formline supposed to be a message in binary?


If you think that’s an awful run of form to look at, imagine being a Roar fan who’s had to actually watch these games. Just ONE goal scored, though only three against.



Our point is that they defend well and haven’t a clue what to do in their front third, which carves out a simple equation for this weekend; score at least once and we’re pretty much guaranteed a point.


Oh, and in case you were wondering… the binary number 11010001 apparently converts to the Spanish letter ‘Ñ’ (pron. “en-ye”).


Every other talking point basically…

Back on topic now, except we actually don’t really know what to call this point, because it’s sort of several talking points rolled into one.


It seems as City fans, we refer to every supposedly winnable game as a ‘banana peel’ fixture; pretty sure the term’s been dropped in the previews of each of our last two matches against Wellington and Central Coast.



This time though, the upcoming match against Brisbane REALLY feels like a banana peel, and there’s a little mixture of influencing factors just brewing quietly in the background to support this ominous feeling. Aside from the fact they can’t score to save their life right now, this game is also:


- Our first league game outside Victoria. We’ve had three home games at AAMI, an opening-round Derby at Marvel and a ‘not-a-derby’ clash against Western United out in Geelong. Now we face two weeks on the road against Brisbane and Western Sydney before a Bye in Round 8.


- A chance at our first five-game winning streak of the City era

Despite all the Heart-era mediocrity, our longest winning streak in club history (five games) was actually achieved twice in that time; first in 2011/12 between Rounds 9 and 13, and then again in 2013/14 (yes, that abysmal 10th-place season) between Rounds 17 and 21.


A win this weekend would equal that record, setting us up for a HUGE clash against Western Sydney the following week.


Melbourne City travel to Dolphin Stadium to face Brisbane Roar on Sunday, October 17. Kick-off is at 4pm.


BUT ALSO…

Our W-League campaign begins this Sunday at 6:30pm against the Newcastle Jets (meaning you can watch both teams play back-to-back!) Check out our huge W-League preview here:

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