Your City boys will play their first away fixture of 2022 this Saturday when they travel to Coopers Stadium to take on Adelaide United.
The two teams have already met at this venue once this season, playing out a 2-2 draw back in late November.
Here’s what you should keeping an eye out for this weekend:
How we manage the game if we hold a second-half lead
No doubt a frustration of fans, one of the priority areas for improvement for Patrick Kisnorbo’s men at present will be game management, particularly in respect to holding onto leads at crucial stages of the game.
Already this season, City has dropped six points from winning positions, held to respective 2-2, 2-2 and 3-3 draws against Adelaide United, Melbourne Victory and Western Sydney Wanderers despite having led at some stage during the second half.
These results are indicative of a wider trend, with 55% of City’s goals conceded having arrived in the final 30 minutes of games this season.
Whether a result of fatigue due to a busy schedule, lapses in concentration or just not playing to the situation, we’re sure the City boys will be working hard to reverse the trend and ensure a full 90 minute performance this Saturday.
A potential return to action for a couple of fan favourites?
City fans will be hoping that this weekend’s game could see a return to action for fan favourites Curtis Good and Stefan Colakovski.
Good, City’s 2020/21 Player of the Season, hasn’t been part of a matchday squad yet in 2022 as he continues to recover from COVID, Head Coach Patrick Kisnorbo confirmed in a recent press conference.
His strong form throughout last season was a huge factor in the Club’s winning its first pieces A-League Men silverware, so no doubt City fans will be hoping to see him back healthy and in the mix for selection this week.
Kisnorbo also recently confirmed that striker Stefan Colakovski had been one of the last players to contract the virus, meaning a later return to training compared to other players. This has meant we’re yet to see Colakovski in 2022 and with a separate illness keeping the 21-year-old out of a handful of fixtures late last year, City fans will be hoping to see him back to full fitness and on the pitch soon.
How the boys perform given a disappointing record at the venue
While Adelaide may have recorded just one win from its opening seven fixtures this season, City fans will no doubt be nervous ahead of Saturday given our recent record in this fixture.
Coopers Stadium has been far from a happy hunting ground for City in recent seasons, the boys unable to leave South Australia with the three points after any of our previous five meetings in all competitions.
Over that period, City hasn’t come closer than the last match between teams back in late November. City led 2-1 in the dying stages after going ahead thanks to an Andrew Nabbout wonder-goal, only for United winger Ben Halloran to equalise in the 90th minute.
With Halloran recently departed Adelaide, there will be one less headache for Kisnorbo this weekend, but the City Head Coach will still no doubt be demanding a 90 minute performance from a City side who will be desperate to pick up all three points.
