The run home is well and truly here as the race to A-League Men’s Finals continues to heat up.
City is currently gearing up to host Central Coast Mariners at AAMI Park – the first of four of our final five fixtures to be played at home.
Following a strong road win against Sydney FC last time out, Aurelio Vidmar’s men will be full of confidence when they return home this Saturday.
Here are the major storylines heading into kick off:
PUSHING FOR A TOP-TWO SPOT
With just five games remaining, the ladder is extremely tight as the race for Finals nears its climax.
Heading into the weekend, we sit just one point behind Western United, and with four of our last five games to be played at home, a top-two finish is well and truly within our sights.
While the AFC Champions League Elite spot is usually reserved for the Premiers, should Auckland FC finish first – where they currently sit seven points clear – the ACLE position would instead go to the team finishing second, given Auckland’s ineligibility to participate in AFC competitions.
This makes the battle for second place even more crucial, with the added bonus of securing a direct path to the two-legged Semi Finals.
Every point is vital across these last five games as we look to finish strong and do everything we can to secure a top-two position.
STAYING STRONG AT HOME
As mentioned above, four of our last five games will be played at AAMI Park – a venue where we’ve found plenty of success this season.
While our most recent fixture at home ended in a frustrating defeat to Newcastle, we’d taken all three points from our five previous matches at the venue.
Even more impressively, we didn’t concede a single goal across that stretch – meaning we’ve let in just one goal across our last six matches at AAMI Park.
While there was little City’s defence and goalkeeper Patrick Beach could do about Sydney’s two goals last weekend, our backline will be aiming to return to clean sheet form this Saturday.
After almost a month away from home, Vidmar’s side will no doubt be eager to step back out at AAMI Park and put in a strong performance in front of the City fans.
SUPER MAX CONTINUING TO FIRE?
Now with an extended run of football under his belt, 19-year-old striker Max Caputo is beginning to find some real form.
It took him a little time to regain his rhythm after returning from a long stint on the sidelines with a broken leg, but the young gun is now back fit and firing.
After scoring his first professional brace against Macarthur, he backed it up with another composed finish against Sydney last week – making it three goals in his last three appearances.
Two years his junior, 17-year-old Medin Memeti also found the back of the net last weekend and will head into the Mariners clash full of confidence.
Memeti made his first start since returning from the Young Socceroos’ successful U20 AFC Asian Cup qualifying campaign and brought his season tally up to three goals.
FIXTURE DETAILS
A-League Men: Round 25
Melbourne City FC v Central Coast Mariners
Saturday 5 April, 5:00pm KO
AAMI Park
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