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The ladder-leading Melbourne City travel to Sydney to take on the third-placed Western Sydney Wanderers at CommBank Stadium. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 3pm (AEDT).
Week 12 of the A-League continues with the class of the competition, Melbourne City, looking for their ninth win in eleven matches against a Wanderers team seeking a statement game that convinces critics of their chances in 2022/23.
With three wins on the bounce to their credit, City will look to add a fourth against a side slowly building under coach Marko Rudan. Western United and Wellington Phoenix have been the latest City victims, with seven goals knocked past them collectively over the last two weeks.
Western Sydney went down to Perth in what many considered a shock result last Friday night. Prior to that, a convincing 4-0 win over Macarthur with a format change in midfield saw them announce themselves as a potential top four candidate come season’s end.
Team news sees City enter the fixture with a settled and unchanged line-up. Jamie Maclaren will be out to keep his astonishing goal-scoring run going, with Andrew Nabbout, Mathew Leckie and Marco Tilio all out to play important supporting roles.
Milos Ninkovic is back in the match-day squad for the Wanderers after an extended absence and should see time upon his return. Marcelo, Oliver Bozanic and Calem Nieuwenhoff loom as the keys to the home side being able to apply consistent pressure on City and find a way to keep them occupied defensively, thus allowing for the Wanderers to build pressure of their own at the other end.
Prediction
I am tipping a solid performance from Western Sydney in their home stadium on what will be a steamy afternoon in Wanderland. Conditions could well play a role, with City always likely to start well and the tougher-than-ever Wanderers hopeful of hanging with the opposition for as long as possible before potentially snatching something late.
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It is tough to pick against the visitors and I will not be doing so here, despite the Wanderers being good value for a draw.
City 2 Wanderers 1
Game information
Venue: CommBank Stadium, Sydney Kick-off: 3pm (AEDT) Streaming: Paramount + Betting: Wanderers $3.35, draw $3.40, City $2.10 – odds via PlayUp
