ALM PREVIEW: City v Adelaide

The A-League Men’s season has reached its penultimate round, and your City boys return to AAMI Park on Saturday night for one of the most important matches of the campaign.

With just two fixtures remaining, the equation is simple: keep winning and a top-two finish—and the AFC Champions League Elite spot that comes with it—remains ours.

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Here’s everything to look out for ahead of Saturday’s must-watch matchup against Adelaide United:

Desperate for the points

Last weekend’s 2-2 draw away to Western Sydney Wanderers may not have been the perfect result, but it still extended our buffer in second place to three points.

After conceding twice in the opening 15 minutes, City showed great resilience to fight back, with centre back Kai Trewin the unlikely source of both goals—first heading home a Marco Tilio corner before calmly slotting a late penalty to level the contest.

The character shown in Western Sydney will hold City in good stead ahead of a massive encounter this weekend. Three points against Adelaide would go a long way in cementing a top-two finish and the week off that comes with it heading into Finals.

But make no mistake, Adelaide will be just as desperate. This will be their final game of the regular season, and with the Reds currently outside the top six on goal difference, anything less than a win will likely spell the end of their campaign.

Expect Carl Veart’s side to throw everything forward in their bid to keep their Finals hopes alive.

An intense rivalry

While Adelaide has often had the edge when playing on their home turf, it’s been a different story at AAMI Park.

City has lost just once at home to the Reds since 2016, winning seven of the past 12 clashes in Melbourne.

The earlier meeting this season finished 1-0 in Adelaide’s favour, but Vidmar’s side was missing a host of key players such as Andreas Kuen, Ale Lopane, Yonatan Cohen and Kai Trewin, while Marco Tilio was only just returning from injury.

With the squad now far more settled and in strong form having lost just one of our last nine games, City will head into Saturday night’s encounter full of belief.

Defensive resilience

City has built its season on a strong defensive foundation, but recent matches have seen a slight dip, with two goals conceded in three of our last four matches.

Still, the team has found ways to win or at least split the points thanks to solid structures and the ability to bounce back quickly.

Saturday’s test will be no easy one against an Adelaide outfit that has scored 53 goals this season—17 more than City—and features Golden Boot co-leader Archie Goodwin, who was the difference when we faced off earlier this year.

However, while their attack has impressed, the Reds’ backline has struggled, conceding 55 goals—more than double City’s total.

It sets the stage for a compelling battle between a structured defensive unit and an aggressive, free-scoring attack.