Patrick Kisnorbo will continue searching for answers to Melbourne City FC’s recent struggles to secure wins in the Izuzu UTE A-League when his side takes on Adelaide United away from home this Saturday.
Kisnorbo confirmed in Friday morning’s press conference that another four players had tested positive to COVID-19 during the week, meaning there are plenty of questions as to how the line-up for Saturday’s clash will look.
A player we are unlikely to see back for this fixture is defender Curtis Good, who is yet to feature in 2022. Kisnorbo said on Friday morning that the defender was still recovering after being one of the players hit hardest from the last group to contract the virus.
This will likely mean an unchanged centre-back pairing of Nuno Reis and Rostyn Griffiths for Saturday’s clash. With no midweek games to contend with, Scott Galloway and skipper Scott Jamieson will most likely complete the back four.
The absence of a midweek game will have been seen as a blessing in disguise for City, who last week had to deal with 120 minutes of Cup action on Wednesday night before an intense league affair on Sunday, the team’s first two fixtures after majority of the squad contracted COVID.
City fans will be hoping to see similar performances to last time in Adelaide from Jamie Maclaren and Andrew Nabbout who were both on the scoresheet in November’s 2-2 draw.
Mathew Leckie is another who City fans will be hoping to see fire when he takes on his former team this Saturday. While he was able to find the back of the net in the Cup, our number seven will be working hard to hit the back of the net for the first time in a league game in City blue.
After scoring his first goal of the season last Sunday, Marco Tilio continues to push for more minutes.
Having been deployed as both a winger and attacking midfielder already this season, he could come into contention for a place in the starting XI against Adelaide.
Missing for much of this season, Stefan Colakovski is another player who Kisnorbo may look to in order to improve City’s offensive output, with the 21-year-old turning out to be one of City’s most impactful forwards last season. Colakovski recorded 1.04 goal involvements per 90 minutes, second in the Melbourne City squad only to Jamie Maclaren.
