AWCL Preview: City v Kaya FC-Iloilo

A home Quarter Final may already be locked in but before travelling home to Melbourne, our City Women have one more AWCL Group Stage fixture to play.

We wrap up Group B on Saturday evening (4pm local, 8pm AEDT) against Filipino Champions Kaya FC-Iloilo, as Michael Matricciani’s team look to take a full nine points from three games.

There’s still plenty to learn, so here are a few things to watch for!

CHANGES TO THE XI?

After a dominant performance on Matchday 1, there were no surprises to see City stick with an unchanged XI last time out against College of Asian Scholars.

Now though with a home Quarter Final locked in, there could be a chance Matricciani looks to experiment with the line-up and see what he has within the squad as an eye turns towards the domestic season beginning on November 3.

We’re yet to see Taylor Otto in the Champions League campaign after the central defender picked up a niggle in the final session before Matchday 1, but having recovered fully, she could be in line for some minutes on Saturday.

The likes of Emilia Murray and Lourdes Bosch have also done their selection chances no harm with some nice moments in the final third throughout their cameos off the bench.

A moment to remember for Lourdes Bosch 💫

🎥 @TheAWCL pic.twitter.com/lM5ccb3iYm
— Melbourne City FC (@MelbourneCity) October 10, 2024

STAYING ‘PERFECT’

City couldn’t have asked for a better start to life in the inaugural AWCL competition, picking up the maximum six points from our first two games.

Rhianna Pollicina wrote her name in the history books with our first goal in the competition, while new signing Mariana Speckmaier has goals in both games. Tyla-Jay Vlajnic and Lourdes Bosch also both joined the Venezuelan on the scoresheet on Matchday 2.

Heading into Saturday, City has the chance to be one of only two teams to go through the Group Stage with a ‘perfect’ record. Across in Group C, Urawa Reds (who are yet to concede a goal) and Ho Chi Minh City have both won every game, but do play eachother a few hours after our clash kicks off.

City also remains undefeated as a Club in Thailand heading into our 10^th match – our Men’s team winning four and drawing three in seven previous ACL games – so a nice piece of history is also on the line in a Club-wide aspect.

AN EYE TOWARDS THE ALW SEASON

Although there may not be much to play for in terms of our fate in the competition on Matchday 3, Matricciani will most certainly want to continue his winning start as Head Coach and ensure his team has the best possible preparation for the A-League Women’s season.

Perth Glory is ahead in Round 1 of the domestic season, and with just three weeks to go and limited chances to play friendlies, Saturday’s final AWCL clash is a key part of the preparation puzzle.

City has already shown a big step forward in improvement across the two matches, but Matricciani will be hoping to see further strides taken as we gear up to defend our Premiers Plate in another big season back home.