Newcastle Jets vs Melbourne City Predictions

• Newcastle Jets lost their first game in six on Friday, being defeated 1-0 by Brisbane Roar.
• Melbourne City picked up their third win in four games, beating Central Coast 4-2 on Friday.
• Newcastle have now scored 24 goals in 21 games this season, averaging 1.14 goals per game.
• Melbourne City are averaging just under 2 goals a game this season, with 41 goals in 22 games.

Faint playoff hopes fading for Newcastle Jets

Prior to their loss against Brisbane Roar, there was plenty of hope for Newcastle Jets as they sat six points off the playoffs after a good run. Their performance, and result, on Friday was poor though with the side struggling to get a shot on target against a Brisbane side that wasn’t really tested. The team have now given the sides above them a game in hand as well as that six point cushion.

Newcastle have scored 24 times this season, averaging a little over a goal a game but this has improved rapidly over the past seven weeks as their form improved. They scored 11 in six games over a great run for the side and they will be hoping that the poor result on Friday was just a small blip. This will be their second game in four days though and fatigue could be a big factor for The Jets.

Points on the board important for Melbourne City

Melbourne City picked up another important win on Friday, beating Central Coast Mariners 4-2 and moving four points clear of Wellington Phoenix, with City consolidating their second position. Phoenix have two games in hand, three following this game, but Melbourne City would rather have the points on the board and will be hoping to make their lead seven points on Monday.

Melbourne City have now scored 41 goals in the league this season, an average of 1.86 goals per game, and this is a record that they’ve been able to maintain over their past five games. They’ve conceded 32 however, more than any other side currently in the top six and they’ll need to improve this quickly if they have any hope of picking up their first finals series title.

Goals look to be on the cards on Monday

Both of these sides are facing their second game in four days and this should see quite an open game with neither side really able to give 100% with such a quick turnaround. We can see plenty of goals in this game with both sides finding the net with regularity recently but neither being too sure of themselves in their own half. We’re backing this game to finish with over 3.5 goals.

Newcastle Jets didn’t perform well on Friday, failing to land a shot on target. This game should be a lot more open however, with Melbourne City having a much more open style of play compared to Brisbane Roar. The goalscoring form of Jamie Maclaren seems to have return for City though, with the striker netting a hat trick on Friday and we’re backing them to pick up another three points with a 3-2 victory.