Our first competitive match in over four months comes against Western United at GMBHA Stadium, Geelong, in a FFA Cup face-off to decide who progresses to the Round of 32, and who misses out all together.
The match will be the first appearance for Western United in the Cup on Saturday night, while our Jets will be competing in the Cup for their seventh time.
The winner of the tie will also receive a home game in the Round of 32 against Wellington Phoenix on 7 December.
WESTERN UNITED V NEWCASTLE JETS
Date: Saturday, 13 November
Kick-off: 7:45pm
Venue: GMHBA Stadium, Geelong
How to Watch: 10 Play
HEAD-TO-HEAD
Since: 2019
Played: 5
Jets: 2
Western: 2
Draw: 1
FFA CUP RECORD
With no competition in 2020, the return of the Cup also brings the debut of Western United.
While the side from Victoria haven’t featured in the national knockout competition before, they have played some do-or-die football after qualifying for the A-League finals in 2020.
There they won their first bout against Brisbane Roar, but fell short in the Semi-Final against Melbourne City.
The Jets have played in every edition of the Cup since 2014, with our most successful run coming in the most recent 2019 competition.
That year saw our team knock off Melbourne Victory in a thriller, and Edgeworth Eagles in a local showdown, before succumbing to Adelaide away from home.
Previous to that, we were able to progress to the Round of 16 after defeating Gold Coast City Knights in the first stage.
Prior to that, our boys had not made it past the Round of 32.
MIXED PERFORMANCES IN GEELONG
Between the two sides, one match has been contested at GMHBA Stadium in Geelong – the first match – and it saw the Jets run out 1-0 winners thanks to an Angus Thurgate goal.
That hasn’t been the only time we’ve visited the west of Victoria though as the Jets have also met Melbourne Victory on the odd occasion there.
The most recent of those clashes was in 2019, and saw our team win 2-0.
We also met the Victory there in 2017, and despite an enthralling match, we went down 4-2.
Overall, it’s a place where we’ve been able to show our attacking prowess having scored 5 goals from the 3 matches played there.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Beqa Mikeltadze (Newcastle Jets)
While our line-up will featuring a completely new-look with a variety of exciting players arriving to the Club, one of the new foreigners who have made their way to Newcastle is Georgian, Mikeltadze.
The #9 will be focused on goals this season and will be pivotal in the attacking third and for Manager Arthur Papas’ high-octane style of play.
His combinations with fellow attackers such as Savvas Siatravanis, Olivier Boumal, Sam Silvera and Daniel Penha, will also be extremely important and they’ll be fixed on hitting the ground running in our first competitive match.
Alessandro Diamanti (Western United)
There’s strike weapons all across the Western squad, but perhaps none more so than their captain Diamanti.
Not only is the Italian are a proven goalscorer, he’s also creative and crafty with providing to teammates.
The former Premier League and Serie A midfielder will once again be a key man for the Victorian side in the Cup debut, and if our defenders aren’t switched on the full 90 minutes, he might make them pay.
STAT ATTACK
While we’ve only had a few encounters with Western, our records are identical. Both have had two wins, two losses and one draw and all matches have been close affairs. Western have scored one more goal than us though.
Three of our opening FFA Cup bouts (usually the Round of 32) have been played away from home, and two of those games, have ended in a Jets victory.
Additionally, this will also mark the fifth A-League side that we’ve competed against in the Cup having already had multiple matches against Melbourne City, Victory, Adelaide and Perth.
This will also mark the third time in the last four competitions that we’ve been paired against a Victorian A-League club.
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