City football is just around the corner as we gear up for our first competitive match of the 2024/25 campaign.
The Glory awaits us in Perth as we head west in our bid to qualify for the Australia Cup last 16 for the ninth time in our history.
Here are a few of the major storylines heading into Saturday night…
How many City debuts will we see?
The buildup to the first match of a new campaign is always exciting, and several players are in the mix to pull on a City shirt for the first time.
Kai Trewin has been flying on the training track throughout pre-season and has pressed a strong claim for a starting spot, but could be battling it out with fellow new signing Germán Ferreyra.
The versatile Argentine defender could be used in the heart of defence or on the right, plus can also give Head Coach Aurelio Vidmar another option in midfield by playing as a 6.
Arion Sulemani would appear almost certain to feature at some point after some blistering form with the Joeys in the recent ASEAN U19 Championships, while Lawrence Wong and Jayden Necovski may also have their sights set on their first minutes with the first team.
Matching up against Perth
There was no shortage of goals across last season’s A-League Men’s meetings against Perth, a whopping 17 goals scored across three fixtures.
Mathew Leckie scored the winner in a gritty 2-1 away win in December 2023, before the Glory took the points 4-2 when they again hosted us a couple of months later.
The most recent clash will no doubt live longest in the memory though, our Club record win coming back in April with a huge 8-0 demolition at AAMI Park.
While there has been no shortage of changes across both lineups for the new campaign, that result will still likely be at the back of the mind for numerous Glory players as they look to come out firing on Saturday.
A strong Round of 32 history
The FFA Cup (as it was previously known) was first introduced in 2014 and while that first edition didn’t go to plan for us, our Round of 32 form has been strong ever since.
After going down on penalties to Sydney FC in that inaugural Cup, we’ve never failed to make it into the final 16.
2016 was of course our most memorable run as we secured our first piece of Men’s silverware in Club history thanks to a Tim Cahill header against Sydney, and we’ll take the first step in getting back to that stage in Western Australia on Saturday.
Looking back to last season’s Cup run, wins over Oakleigh Cannons (Ro32), Wellington Phoenix (Ro16) and MetroStars (QF) saw us qualify for a third Semi Final in Club history, but unfortunately, that’s where it would end.
Fixture Details
Australia Cup: Round of 32
Perth Glory v Melbourne City FC
Sam Kerr Football Centre
Saturday 3 August, 7:30pm KO (AEST)
Live and free via 10play
