Melbourne City’s Isuzu UTE A-League Championship defence gets underway this Saturday evening, as Aurelio Vidmar’s side heads to CommBank Stadium to face Western Sydney Wanderers.
City will take confidence from a strong pre-season and recent AFC Champions League Elite experience, with several key inclusions set to bolster the squad ahead of the opening round.
City is boosted by the returns of Mathew Leckie and Andreas Kuen, with the Championship-winning midfield duo cleared to play after missing the team’s recent trip to Japan. Ben Mazzeo is also back in the mix after overcoming a minor knee injury that saw him sidelined for the last fixture.
There’s a familiar name back in City colours, with Besian Kutleshi named in an A-League Men’s squad for the first time since returning to the Club following a year away. The young defender made his senior Club debut in the AFC Champions League Elite a fortnight ago and will be pushing to continue his momentum domestically.
International recruits Elbasan Rashani and Takeshi Kanamori are both in line to make their A-League debuts after already featuring in the Club’s recent ACL Elite campaign, while Academy product Beckham Baker has been named in an extended A-League squad for the first time.
Injury-wise, Andrew Nabbout (ACL) and Medin Memeti (hamstring) continue to progress through the final stages of their rehabilitation and are expected to push for selection in the coming weeks.
City’s clash against the Wanderers kicks off at 5:00pm (AEDT) this Saturday at CommBank Stadium, and will be live and free on 10Drama, or available to stream on 10 and Paramount+.
Round 1 ALM Squad
1. Patrick BEACH (GK), 4. Liam BONETIG, 7. Mathew LECKIE, 10. Takeshi KANAMORI, 11. Elbasan RASHANI, 13. Nathaniel ATKINSON, 16. Aziz BEHICH (C), 17. Max CAPUTO, 19. Zane SCHREIBER, 20. Ben MAZZEO, 22. Germán FERREYRA, 26. Samuel SOUPRAYEN, 27. Kai TREWIN, 30. Andreas KUEN, 33. Dakota OCHSENHAM (GK), 36. Harry SHILLINGTON, 38. Beckham BAKER, 39. Emin DURAKOVIC, 44. Besian KUTLESHI, 47. Kavian RAHMANI.
Unavailable: 15. Andrew NABBOUT (ACL), 21. Alessandro LOPANE (ankle), 35. Medin MEMETI (hamstring), 40. James NIEUWENHUIZEN (ACL), 41. Lawrence WONG (MCL).
