The team is in for Saturday’s blockbuster season opener against Melbourne Victory. See who’s made the first squad of the season.
It’s a strong City lineup that will head into the first match of the season with Warren Joyce selecting an experienced side for the Derby opener.
Mark Birighitti, Ritchie De Laet, Rostyn Griffiths, Riley McGree, Kearyn Baccus, Lachlan Wales and Floring Berenguer could all make their City A-League debuts on Saturday night with only De Laet and Berenguer not having featured in the league before.
City will be without a number of their Young Socceroos, with most notably Nathaniel Atkinson still away on international duty. Osama Malik (calf) and Michael O’Halloran (hamstring) are the only notable injuries at this stage with both players set for extended periods on the sidelines.
With City looking to replicate their first Derby result of the 2017/18 season, a positive pre-season which saw Joyce’s side undefeated in eight of their nine pre-season matches against A-League opposition will leave them in good stead for Round 1.
Melbourne City FC squad: 1.Mark Birighitti (GK), 2.Ritchie De Laet, 3.Scott Jamieson (c), 4.Harrison Delbridge, 5.Bart Schenkeveld, 7.Rostyn Griffiths, 8.Riley McGree, 10.Dario Vidosic, 15.Kearyn Baccus, 17.Anthony Caceres, 18.Eugene Galekovic (GK), 19.Lachlan Wales, 23.Bruno Fornaroli, 25.Iacopo La Rocca, 26.Luke Brattan, 27.Florin Berenguer-Bohrer, 39.Anthony Lesiotis, 43. Lucas Portelli
** two to be omitted **
Ins: NA
Outs: NA
Unavailable: 6. Osama Malik (calf), 11. Michael O’Halloran (hamstring), 13. Nathaniel Atkinson (international duty), 36. Dylan Pierias (international duty), 42. James Delianov (international duty), 21. Ramy Najjarine (international duty), 38. Joshua Cavallo (international duty), 30. Moudi Najjar (international duty), 34. Connor Metcalfe (international duty)
