Western Sydney Wanderers will return to the drawing board when they host struggling Melbourne City after their seven-game unbeaten run was ended in a 3-2 defeat to Adelaide United on Saturday.
The visitors will also be aiming to return to winning ways after falling to a disappointing defeat to East Kew in the preliminary round of the FFA Cup last time out.
Match preview
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After a ninth-place finish in the 2019-20 campaign, Western Sydney Wanderers opened the new season with a shock loss to new boys Macarthur.
Four draws and three wins in their following seven matches, including a 1-0 win over league leaders Central Coast Mariners, sees Carl Robinson's men occupy the fourth position on the log.
However, the Wanderers came crashing back to earth in their last outing as they fell to their second home defeat of the season in a 3-2 loss to Adelaide United.
Craig Goodwin, Stefan Mauk and Mohamed Toure all hit the target for the Reds, while Bruce Kamau and Mitchell Duke got on the scoresheet for the hosts.
On the other hand, Melbourne City, who finished as runners-up to defending champions Sydney FC last term, have struggled to get into gear this season.
With three defeats and four losses in their seven outings, Patrick Kisnorbo's men occupy 10th position in the table, although they have two games in hand.
The visitors snapped their three-game losing streak in the league when they claimed a 3-2 win over Sydney FC on Tuesday.
However, they followed it with a shock home defeat in the preliminary round of the FFA Cup against East Kew at the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium.
With one win in their last five matches in all competitions, Melbourne City will be looking to find their feet when they travel to the Bankwest Stadium on Tuesday.
While the visitors have a clear advantage, winning four of their last six meetings, their last encounter ended in a 1-1 draw, where Jamie Maclaren's penalty cancelled out Tate Russell's opener.
Western Sydney Wanderers Australian A-League form: WDDWDL
Melbourne City Australian A-League form: LWLLLW
Melbourne City form (all competitions): WLLLWL
Team News
Both teams come into this fixture with relatively clean bills of health, and we can expect each manager to field his strongest XI.
Goalkeeper Vedran Janjetovic is the only guaranteed absentee for the hosts, as he is out with a long-term injury.
Melbourne City midfielder Nuno Reis is a doubt after hobbling off in the 64th minute with a slight injury against Sydney FC.
Twenty-eight-year-old forward Andrew Nabbout is expected to make his second appearance this term, after making his return from a hamstring injury against the Sky Blues.
The visitors were impressive against Steve Corica's men, and Kisnorbo will likely stick to the same starting XI on Tuesday.
Western Sydney Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Margush; McGowan, Aquilina, Gordon; Georgievski, Dorrans, Baccus, Russell; Muller, Ibini-Isei, Cox
Melbourne City possible starting lineup:
Glover; Jamieson, Good, Griffiths, Garuccio; Tilio, Gomulka, Berenguer; Noone, Maclaren, Metcalfe
We say: Western Sydney Wanderers 2-0 Melbourne City
After contrasting starts to the league campaign, the host have proven to be the better side. They should be able to grab all three points as they take on a Melbourne City side who have struggled for results so far.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Melbourne City win with a probability of 43.6%. A win for Western Sydney Wanderers had a probability of 32.44% and a draw had a probability of 24%.
The most likely scoreline for a Melbourne City win was 1-2 with a probability of 9.04%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (7.94%) and 0-2 (6.52%). The likeliest Western Sydney Wanderers win was 2-1 (7.64%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.01%). The actual scoreline of 0-2 was predicted with a 6.5% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Melbourne City would win this match.
