Newcastle Jets vs Melbourne City Predictions

• Newcastle Jets have struggled for consistency, winning two and losing three matches so far, and goals, averaging just over a goal a game so far.
• Melbourne City lead the way at the beginning of the season but two losses in their last three has left them five points behind leaders, Sydney FC.
• Both teams have scored in 71% of Newcastle Jets games this season with 75% of those games also beating the 2.5 goal line.
• Melbourne City games have seen an average of 4.25 goals per game this season, with both teams scoring in six of their eight matches and the 2.5 goal line being beaten in seven of those eight games.

Can Newcastle Jets end their lack of consistency?

Newcastle Jets have struggled for consistent results so far this season, not securing a win until their fifth game of the season. This has left them just outside the playoff places and being unable to break into the top six despite having a talented squad. They have failed to create enough chances in the final third, scoring just eight goals in seven games and injuries to key players in attack hasn’t helped their cause.

Their record against Melbourne City is reasonable, winning 11 of the 28 games played between the sides but in more recent years they have lost three of their last four matches against City. This season both teams have scored in almost three quarters of Newcastle Jets games and the same figure appears in those matches when looking at beating the goal line, indicating we should see both teams create chances throughout the 90 minutes.

Will Melbourne City end up two or eight points off the top?

Things were looking very rosy for Melbourne City just a few weeks ago. They had won four of their opening five games and secured a goalless draw against bitter rivals Melbourne Victory but since then they haven’t enjoyed a good run, picking up losses against Brisbane Roar and Perth Glory. Their poor form has come at the worst time with Sydney FC looking stronger than ever and marching into a five point lead over City.

Games involving Melbourne City have certainly been entertaining though with the goalless draw against Victory on the opening day being the one and only time that the 2.5 goal line hasn’t been beaten so far this season. Last weekend’s 3-0 loss to Perth was also the first time that both teams had failed to scored in a Melbourne City match since that opening day stalemate. In their games this season there have been four or more goals in a game on four occasions with the scoring 16 and conceding 14 so far.

Who comes out on top on the east coast?

One thing we can certainly see happening this weekend is goals raining down. These two sides always seem to produce goals and the 2.5 goal line has been beaten the last 14 times these two have met each other. With that stat at the forefront of our minds and the knowledge that there have been so many matches featuring this teams that have seen both teams score, we’re predicting those two stats combine and are backing both teams to score and over 2.5 goals.

Melbourne City are slight favourites coming into the match but there isn’t much to choose from between the two sides taking into account poor form and Newcastle having home advantage. Because of that we’re predicting that these two will share the spoils in a 2-2 draw. There should certainly be plenty of goalmouth action but we’re not confident in either side taking away all three points.