MATCH PREVIEW Rd 15: Melbourne Heart vs Newcastle Jets
Preview
The opening game of Round 15 sees Melbourne Heart at home to the high-flying Newcastle Jets. The reverse fixture saw Newcastle come out winners, and recent form will suggest Melbourne Heart have their work cut out for them. Nevertheless, football is a crazy game, and this fixture has the potential to turn into a cracker.
The Friday night game is crucial for both teams, desperate for three points. Newcastle has surprised many, having been given early wooden spoon predictions, to upsetting both Brisbane Roar and Melbourne Victory. The Jets sit precariously in the final Top 6 spot, with Sydney FC and Adelaide United hot on their heels. 3 points tonight will see the team from the Hunter keep up with the front runners of the competition and pull away from the bottom four.
However, whilst securing all three points in their previous fixture, Newcastle are once again without Andrew Hoole, Josh Brillante and Adam Taggart – all away with the Young Socceroos. Furthermore, their previous game would end up being Nathan Burns final appearance at the club, as his loan deal ends. Without such attacking power and away from home, Newcastle might come undone in tonight’s game.
Melbourne Heart are experiencing an extremely torrid start to the season, without a win in 14 games. Rocked with injuries, instability, bad football and pure bad luck, Heart find themselves at the bottom of the table, 9 points off second last Wellington. Time has more or less run out for Melbourne to make anything of this season, but a win here could spark an amazing resurgence.
Melbourne Heart welcome back Orlando Engelaar for the first time this season. The marquee man suffered an unfortunate injury in preseason, but has speedily returned to fitness to make a possible shock appearance tonight. Engelaar might be the missing piece of the puzzle for Heart, with just his involvement in the match day squad enough to inspire some courage.
Recent form is neither impressive for both team. From the last 5 games, Newcastle was able only to gain 4 points, whilst Melbourne Heart, unsurprisingly, could only settle for 1 point out of a possible 15.
Heart look in all sorts at the moment, with nothing tactically impressive or eye catching. Whilst classy and silky in patches, Heart’s backline leave a lot to be desired, indicative of their -16 goal difference; the league’s lowest by far. Jets pride themselves on their attacking forays, yet boast one of the lowest goals for statistics. On paper, the game seems lacklustre, but those exact games always seem to explode into action.
Head to Head and Form Guide
Played 10. Jets: 5. Draws: 2. Heart: 3.
Last Meeting: 24/11/13 at Hunter Stadium. Newcastle 3-1 Melbourne
Heart: LDLLL. Jets: DLLWL.
Absentee List
Melbourne Heart: Jonatan Germano (Injured), David Vrankovic, Stefan Mauk (Both international duty)
Newcastle Jets: Scott Neville, Mitch Cooper (Both injured), Andrew Hoole, Connor Chapman, Josh Brillante, Adam Taggart (All international duty)
Probable XI
Melbourne Heart (4-3-2-1): Redmayne; Behich, Gerhardt, Wielaert, Hoffman; Dugandzic, Kalmar, Murdocca; Ramsay, Kewell; Mifsud
Newcastle Jets (4-3-3): Birighitti; Gallaway, Jaliens, Regan, Pepper; Brown, Zadkovich, Kantarovski; Goodwin, Virgili; Heskey
Eyes On…
Ruban Zadkovich. Zadkovich has been in great recent form, including a remarkable 90 minutes against Melbourne Victory last week. Club captain, Zadkovich is a strong believer in leading from example, and continues to put in a 110% every game. I tip him to have a great game tonight.
Prediction
Neither team would boast that they are in the best form. We are well aware of Heart’s troubles, whilst Newcastle are without a few crucial first team members. In front of a seemingly hostile home crowd, Heart would feel the pressure and urge to make something out of tonight’s game, but I feel a draw will be the final outcome.
Predicted Score: MHT 1:1 NEW (HT 0:1)
FSTAL Fact
Last week, the Heart equalled the New Zealand Knight’s win-less record. Could they beat it tonight?
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