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Central Coast Mariners and Western Sydney Wanderers will battle for three points in an Australian A-League matchday 17 clash on Sunday.
The home side are fresh off a comfortable 4-0 thrashing of Phnom Penh Crown in the AFC Champions League in midweek. Jing Reec broke the deadlock in the first half while Ryan Edmondson scored a second-half hat-trick to help his side book a round-of-16 clash with Macarthur FC.
The Mariners will turn their focus back to the scene where their last game saw them suffer a 3-1 defeat at home to Sydney FC.
Western Sydney Wanderers, meanwhile, shared the spoils in a 3-3 draw at home to Newcastle Jets. Apostolos Stametelopoulos and Lachlan Brook each scored braces in the stalemate while Marcelo and Trent Buhagiar also scored in the six-goal thriller.
The draw left them in fifth spot in the league with 25 points to show for their efforts in 16 games. Central Coast Mariners are second, having garnered 28 points from 17 games.
Central Coast Mariners vs Western Sydney Wanderers Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
- This will be the 35th meeting between the two sides. Western Sydney Wanderers have 15 wins to their name, Central Coast Mariners were victorious on nine occasions while 10 games ended in draws.
- Their most recent clash came in January 2024 when Central Coast Mariners claimed a 1-0 away win.
- Four of Central Coast Mariners' last six games in all competitions have produced three goals or more.
- Central Coast Mariners have the best home record in the league with 17 points garnered from 10 games in front of their fans.
- Six of Central Coast Mariners' last eight home games have produced over 2.5 goals.
Central Coast Mariners vs Western Sydney Wanderers Prediction
Central Coast Mariners are defending league champions and they have been relatively impressive in their title defense. They currently find themselves five points behind league leaders Wellington Phoenix and will want to keep up the pace at the summit.
Western Sydney Wanders can put a spanner in the works and will fancy their chances of getting a positive result here.
However, we are tipping the home side to claim a narrow win with goals to be scored at both ends.
Prediction: Central Coast Mariners 2-1 Western Sydney Wanderers
Central Coast Mariners vs Western Sydney Wanderers Betting Tips
Tip 1 - Central Coast Mariners to win
Tip 2 - Both teams to score
Tip 3 - Over 2.5 goals
