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Melbourne City will invite Brisbane Roar to the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium in their final A-League match of the year on Thursday.
The hosts are unbeaten in their last four league games, though the last two games have ended in draws. They were held to a goalless draw by local rivals Melbourne Victory last week, failing to score for the first time in six games.
The visitors have suffered back-to-back defeats in their last two league outings and fell to a 3-0 home defeat to the Central Coast Mariners last week. Ángel Torres continued his fine form for the Mariners and bagged a second-half brace.
The hosts are in seventh place in the league standings, with 12 points from nine games. The visitors head into the match as the fifth-placed side in the table, with a two-point lead over the home team.
Melbourne City vs Brisbane Roar Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
- The two teams have crossed paths 40 times across all competitions, with all but one meeting taking place in the A-League. The hosts have dominated proceedings against their northern rivals with 21 wins. The visitors have 12 wins to their name and seven games have ended in draws.
- City are unbeaten in their last five meetings against the visitors, recording four wins and scoring two goals apiece in these wins as well.
- Melbourne City are winless in their last five home games across all competitions, though the last four games have ended in draws. Just one of their three wins in the league this season has come at home.
- Brisbane Roar have just one win in their away meetings against the hosts and have suffered eight defeats on the trot.
- The visitors have just four wins in their A-League away games in 2023.
Melbourne City vs Brisbane Roar Prediction
The Hearts have been undefeated in their five games this month thus far and will look to sign off for the year on an unbeaten note. While they head into the match on a six-game unbeaten run, they have just two wins in their last nine games, interestingly, both coming in away games.
They have lost just once at home against the visitors, recording eight wins in a row, and are strong favorites. Mathew Leckie, James Nieuwenhuizen, Andrew Nabbout, Zane Schreiber, and Arion Sulemani remain sidelined for them, so a similar starting XI from last week is expected to be fielded here.
The Roar parted ways with coach Ross Aloisi last week, who joined the club in April this year, as he has accepted an offer from Chinese Super League club Shanghai Port as an assistant coach to Kevin Muscat. Luciano Trani will take charge as the interim manager for this match.
They have suffered back-to-back defeats, conceding five goals while scoring just once, and will look to return to winning ways. They have a poor away record against City and have failed to score in seven of the 18 games in their travels.
With that in mind and considering their current form, we back the hosts to eke out a narrow win.
Prediction: Melbourne City 2-1 Brisbane Roar
Melbourne City vs Brisbane Roar Betting Tips
Tip 1: Result - Melbourne City to win
Tip 2: Goals - Over/Under 2.5 Goals - Over 2.5 goals
Tip 3: At least a goal to be scored in the second half - Yes
Tip 4: Jamie Maclaren to score or assist any time - Yes
