After returning to the winners’ circle last weekend, our Newcastle Jets will now turn their attention to Melbourne City for the second time in two weeks when they face-off at AAMI Park this Friday.
This Friday’s clash will be the Jets second consecutive game at the stadium and after coming up with the goods against Victory last weekend, our team will now be looking to keep the good times rolling against the high-flying City.
The Jets were humbled at home the last time these two sides met and will now be eager to return the favour.
Our side will be buoyed by a longer rest period between games this time around, as they aim for revenge at AAMI Park this Friday.
MELBOURNE CITY VS NEWCASTLE JETS
Date: Friday 18 February 2022
Kick-off: 7:45pm
Venue: AAMI Park
How to Watch: Paramount+
HEAD-TO-HEAD
Since: 2010
Played: 35
Jets: 14
City: 17
Draws: 4
FEBRUARY FOOTBALL FRENZY
It was a disappointing result the last time we met City following the our hectic first week back from COVID postponements.
Ironically, it is now Melbourne City who will have to contend with a quick turnaround this time around, after they faced Adelaide United on Tuesday evening, where they suffered their third loss of the season, going down 2-1.
This Friday’s clash will see the Jets line up for their fourth match this month, before we return home for back-to-back fixtures to finish the month. Our team will be eager to flip the script on the home side after suffering a 4-2 defeat to City at McDonald Jones Stadium less than two weeks ago. If the Jets can muster a victory, it’ll mark the second time this season we’ve won away from home.
We won’t be underestimating the size of the task before us though, with history showing that the Jets struggle when travelling to face City at AAMI Park. The Jets have only claimed two wins from their previous 15 meetings at the venue with our last victory over City at the venue coming in Round Four of 2015/16.
CLIMBING THE LADDER
Last weekend’s win saw the Jets move to eighth spot on the ladder and we now sit just four points behind the sixth placed Macarthur FC.
Although there are plenty of games remaining in the season, our Jets will be wanting to keep the pressure on the teams currently in the top half of the ladder to hopefully secure a finals berth.
On the other side of the ledger, City had mixed results in the early rounds before recently finding their rhythm and rocketing back near the top of the table. The reigning premiers and champions enjoyed three victories in five games before losing to Adelaide earlier this week, but still hold onto second place and sit just one point behind league-leaders Western United.
This Friday’s fixture will once again showcase some of the brightest talents the league has to offer, with both sides boasting players at the top of the attacking charts this season. One of those players is Jets’ striker Beqa Mikeltadze, who once again showed his quality bagging the decisive goal in the win against Victory – his seventh of the season.
Melbourne City’s Jamie Maclaren is another player that can break a match wide open. The Socceroo bagged a brace the last the two sides faced and is currently leading the golden boot race with eight goals to his name.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Valentino Yuel (Newcastle Jets)
Winger Valentino Yuel started the season in extraordinary fashion with the crafty sideman bagging three goals and assisting one other in the first three games of the season.
His performances continued the 27-year-old’s stunning revolution at with the South Sudanese international becoming a crowd favourite since joining the club initially on a train-and-train deal in December 2020.
Yuel’s early season form earned him another call-up to his international side recently, where he scored his first goal. After returning to Australia, Yuel broke back into the starting XI for last weekend’s match against Melbourne Victory and made a strong impact, starting the comeback with a brilliant finish to claim his fourth goal of the season.
Watch for Valentino to cause havoc on the flanks against City with his pace and footwork sure to keep defenders guessing. As well as his threatening runs, Yuel is also a target man in the box with his athleticism allowing him to latch onto anything that comes his way.
Jamie Maclaren (Melbourne City)
It’s hard to go past the leading goal scorer.
Since his debut with Perth Glory in 2013, Jamie Maclaren has become one of the league’s deadliest sharpshooters since joining Melbourne City in 2019, scoring 68 goals in his 60 appearances.
The three-time golden boot winner was a part of City’s championship winning season last year where he scored 25 goals from 24 games and he is continuing that trend so far this season having nine goal involvements so far this season.
Jets defenders will be cautious when Maclaren sets his sights on goals, as he also currently tops the league for shots on goal with 44 so far this season.
STATS & FACTS
This season’s Isuzu UTE A-League competition has proven to be one of the most hotly contested competitions in world football with just 12 competition points separating first place Western United and last placed Perth Glory. The unpredictability of each matchup has made it a treat for fans around Australia, and this Friday’s matchup is no different.
The one thing that seems guaranteed when these two sides meet is goals. Both the Jets and City lead the competition for average goals scored per match with 1.9 goals.
Another consistent trend from our matches is that a winner is typically found. From our 35 matches overall, only four draws have been encountered, with the last tie coming back in January 2018 when we had a 2-2 draw at AAMI Park.
History beckons for Beqa Mikeltadze, with the striker on the verge of breaking the Jets record for consecutive scoring games currently held by Jets legend Joel Griffiths. Mikeltadze has scored in his five previous appearances for the Jets and will break the record if he bags another this Friday.
