The Newcastle Jets will travel west to take on Perth Glory this Saturday at Macedonia Park with a late kick off set at 10:30pm AEST (7.30pm local time in Perth).
Newcastle’s previous match saw a 4-0 demolition over Brisbane Roar in front of a home crowd. With all four goals scored in the second half of the game from Jaushua Sotirio, Trent Buhagiar, Beka Mikeltadze, and Archie Goodwin, to take the three points.
The Jets will be looking to utilise the momentum from last Friday’s goal scoring performance into this weekend’s game.
Perth’s previous match saw them with a 2-2 draw in New Zealand against Wellington Phoenix, with both goals coming from veteran David Williams. Perth’s results this season currently stand at five wins, six losses, and three draws.
Last week’s win for the Jets had them move up into ninth place on the ladder, with Newcastle now one win away from jumping up into the top six. Perth is currently sitting in seventh place on 18 points, with the Jets one point behind in ninth place.
The previous meeting between the two sides saw the Jets take the three points with a 2-1 win in Round two at home. With goals from Jordan Elsey and Beka Mikeltadze who scored in the 90+3 minute to seal the win. In their six previous matches, Newcastle have won three, with the other three resulting in a draw. Elsey now finds himself in the opposition lineup having joined the Glory in the transfer window.
Saturday’s match will prove to be a fiery encounter with both sides eager to take a crucial three points to cement a spot in the top six.
Socceroos striker Adam Taggart will be one to watch this weekend after making his return to the A-leagues with Perth. He has scored two goals for his side in his one game so far this season. Taggart will go head-to-head with Matthew Jurman who has been a strong force in the Jets back line.
Beka Mikeltadze scored a cracking goal off the crossbar last week and will be looking to produce something similar this weekend.
Trent Buhagiar also found himself on the scoresheet last week, just three minutes after coming off the bench. He will also be hoping to do something similar and push his place in the starting line-up on Saturday.
Newcastle will be boosted by the inclusion of new signing Manabu Manabu Saitō who has been included in the squad to face Perth.
Perth Glory squad: 2.John KOUTROUMBIS, 3.Jacob DOWSE, 4.Luke BODNAR, 5.Mark BEEVERS, 7.Ryan WILLIAMS, 8.Mustafa AMINI (c), 12.Luke IVANOVIC, 13.Cameron COOK (gk), 15.Jordan ELSEY, 16.Keegan JELACIC, 18.David WILLIAMS, 19.Zach DUNCAN, 20.Giordano COLLI, 21.Antonee BURKE-GILROY, 22.Adam TAGGART, 29.Darryl LACHMAN, 30.Pierce CLARK (gk), 36.Joseph FORDE, 37.Jacob MUIR, 43.Adam ZIMARINO
Ins: 12.Luke IVANOVIC, 22.Adam TAGGART
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 1.Brad JONES (gk) (injured), 6.Aaron MCENEFF (injured), 10.Salim KHELIFI (injured), 14.Jack CLISBY (suspended), 24.Adrian SARDINERO (injured)
Newcastle Jets squad: Jack DUNCAN (gk), 2. Dane INGHAM, 3. Jason HOFFMAN, 4. Manabu SAITO 5. Matthew JURMAN (co-captain), 7. Trent BUHAGIAR, 8. Beka DARTSMELIA, 9. Beka MKELTADZE, 10. Reno PISCOPO, 11. Jaushua SOTIRIO, 14. Mohamed AL-TAAY, 17. Kosta GROZOS, 18. Daniel STYNES, 19. Callum TIMMINS, 20. Michael WEIER (gk), 24. James McGARRY, 25. Carl JENKINSON (co-captain), Archie GOODWIN, 32. Angus THURGATE, 33. Mark NATTA
Ins: 4. Manabu SAITO
Outs: 6. Brandon O’NEILL, 30. Noah JAMES
Jets fans can watch the game live via Paramount+, kicking off at 10:30pm AEST.
