Mariners and Melbourne City clash on busy A-League weekend

Central Coast and Melbourne City are preparing for battle as the A-League is set for a minor return to routine with four matches scheduled for this weekend (pending any further complications due to COVID-19).

The league has scheduled fixtures of various rounds in a bid to kick-start the competition again, with the Gosford team hosting the Melbournians on Sunday in the weekend’s premier game.

The Mariners will take confidence from their midweek FFA Cup win over Sydney FC, reaching the final for the first time in the club’s history, as they look to jump past City into the top four.

The current Champions will hope to get back to winning ways after three consecutive league draws has frustrated them.

At the time of writing, Wellington were poised to play Western United on Friday night at their makeshift home in Wollongong and three points are a must for them.

The Phoenix are desperate to boost their league campaign, having lost their past four games in the competition.

They will hope they are better prepared than their opponents who have yet to play a match this year as well as outside of their home state in Victoria.

Western United Manager John Aloisi says his players are embracing this rather than feeling concern.

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“The players are really excited and looking forward to travelling and going away together. Nothing else but ready and wanting to play our first away game of the season,” Mr Aloisi told media.

Perth is travelling to face Sydney on Saturday with hopes their Covid troubles are behind them.

The Western Australians were the first club to be severely impacted by the current outbreak and they finally returned to the pitch on Wednesday where they lost 1-0 to Brisbane in their catchup fixture.

The Sky Blues’ season has had issues of its own, the latest being their elimination from the FFA Cup after conceding a controversial penalty.

Sydney FC coach Steve Corica is wary of the attacking threat Glory poses, including ex-Liverpool player Daniel Sturridge and former Panathinaikos forward Bruno Fornaroli, though he still put the onus on his side to perform.

“They have some quality. We’ve just got to make sure we’re on our game and we perform really well and take our chances when they come,” said Mr Corica to media.

Brisbane hosts Adelaide United in the weekend’s last contest and both clubs are looking to build some momentum to ignite their seasons.

The Roar finally earned a league win midweek, building on their draw against Sydney FC last week, though they are still only on five points after six games.

The Reds are feeling the pressure, having drawn five in eight, and they will hope that this weekend can see them earn all three points for just the second time this term.

Four teams will not feature this weekend: Melbourne Victory, Macarthur FC, Newcastle Jets and Western Sydney.