After the opening two rounds of the new A-League season, Melbourne City and reigning champions Sydney FC are the only two sides with a 100 per cent winning record.

City’s English coach Warren Joyce has enjoyed a fine start to the league campaign including last week’s first Melbourne derby win where City showed their potency on the counterattack.

On Saturday they will be aiming for a third win in a row when it hosts Wellington Phoenix at AAMI Park. Phoenix last week pushed Sydney FC all the way before eventually going down 3-2. The Kiwis will be strengthened by the return of Gui Finkler and defender Marco Rossi, which is just as well as they will be without the services of skipper and central defender Andrew Durante who is out for several weeks with an abductor injury. City will go into the match favoured to win especially with the goal-scoring threats of Tim Cahill, Marcin Budzinski, and Bruce Kamau.

Other matches this round are:

Sydney FC v Western Sydney Wanderers, Sat 21 October, 7.50 pm at Allianz Stadium
Sydney FC have had the wood on their city rival over recent times in the Sydney derby although the Wanderers were the only team to defeat Sydney FC last season. Both teams go into the match undefeated in this campaign. Last week the Wanderers had to dig deep to claw back a 2-2 draw against the Mariners after trailing twice. Striker Oriel Riera scored for the second match in a row and coach Haydn Foxe also has Bendan Santalab and Mark Bridge as further attacking options.

Sydney FC are off to a flying start with Brazilian striker Bobo in fine goal-scoring form.

Marquee Adrian Mierzewski is a doubtful starter coming off with a hamstring injury last week. On the evidence of their first two games, Sydney are justifiably pre-season favourites however they do look a little more vulnerable defensively this season than last season.

Brisbane Roar v Newcastle Jets, Sun 22 October, 5.00 pm at Suncorp Stadium
The Jets have started well under new coach Ernie Merrick missing out narrowly on a second successive win last week when Glory scored a late equaliser in a 2-2 draw. The Jets have scored seven in two outings and look more purposeful in attack with Roy O’Donovan leading the attack this season. The Roar, on the other hand, are bottom of the table, although last week the signs from marquee striker Massimo Maccarone were promising, scoring his first A-League goal and standing out for his team in the loss to Adelaide. Roar will be strengthened by the return of former Socceroo Brett Holman and the possible debut of new French signing, winger Eric Bautheau.

Perth Glory v Central Coast Mariners, Sun 22 October, 7.00 pm at NIB Stadium
Both sides are coming off the back of 2-2 draws last week. The Mariners produced a much more organised performance in their draw against the Wanderers last week with Daniel de Silva showing the quality coach Paul Okon believes he has.

The Mariners however will be without Andrew Hoole who is out through suspension.

Glory did well to grab a point off the Jets last week with Adam Taggart scoring a brace against his former club. However, as was the case last season, Perth continue to show defensive lapses which the Mariners may be able to exploit.