With a morale-boosting win over Brisbane under our belts, the Jets will look to go back-to-back with three points over Perth Glory this weekend.
It’ll be a tall task, knocking off the undefeated and ladder leading Perth Glory, but one which the Jets will be eagerly awaiting.
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Thanks to resident stats guru, Dave Keating, Here are this week’s fixture facts.
Matches
We’ve played the current table toppers a total of 39 times in the Hyundai A-League since it’s inception in 2005, with eight Jets wins and eight draws.
In Newcastle, it’s Glory who hold the cards with 11 wins compared to the Jets five. There have been four draws.
Our biggest win over the Glory came at home back in the 2010/11 season, when goals to Labi Haliti, Jeremy Brockie, and a Sasho Petrovski double secured a 4-0 win.
Last time we faced the Glory was at home in Round 26 last season. It was Perth who took the three points back West, with a 2-0 win.
Goals
The number of goals in this fixture is reflective of the results across the years – Glory have scored a total of 76 goals to the Jets’ 43.
Those numbers shorten when it comes to goals in Newcastle – the Jets have scored 23 times compare to Glory’s 24.
Ronny Vargas tops our goalscoring charts this season with two goals to his name, but in this fixture it’s Joel Griffiths who has the most under his belt with six. For Glory, Jamie Harnwell leads the way with 7.
Talking points
Goals to Kaine Sheppard and Jair last weekend etched their names in Newcastle history – they became the 82nd and 83rd players respectively to score in Jets colours.
Last weekend’s win over Brisbane will surely have been helped by a stat which will have made boss, Ernie Merrick extremely happy – no outfield player had a passing accuracy below 70%.
To take three points this weekend, the Jets will have to buck a couple of trends in this fixture. Glory have scored first in ten of the last 11 meetings, and the Jets haven’t taken all three points against Perth at home since November 2011.