Football Bet of the Day: Perth could turf City out of Australia Cup

Saturday's football bet of the day comes from HBF Park as Perth Glory host Melbourne City in the Australia Cup round of 32 (10:30).

The A-League sides last met at AAMI Park in April when City hammered the Glory 8-0, but a lot has changed since that day in Melbourne, and Saturday's hosts shouldn't be carrying the burden of that defeat when they face off this weekend.

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It's been a pretty disastrous few years for Glory supporters who have had to endure four successive bottom-four finishes in the A-League Men's, last season being the nadir as they collected the unwanted wooden spoon for ending the campaign in last place.

March onwards was particularly brutal for Perth as they lost seven of their final nine fixtures, failing to record a victory after February 17. Moreover, they shipped 23 goals across their last four games, the real standout scoreline being an 8-0 loss to Melbourne City and a 7-1 final-day defeat to Sydney FC.

All of this was achieved despite Glory possessing the division's Golden Boot winner, Adam Taggart, who struck 20 times in just 20 appearances.

Speaking of disappointing seasons, the 2023/24 campaign was a tumultuous one for Melbourne City, who had won the three previous premierships.

City only just about scraped into the top six ahead of Western Sydney Wanderers, who were two points further back, and they lost seven league games alone in 2024. Those defeats included a 5-1 thrashing at the hands of Brisbane Roar and a 4-2 loss to Perth Glory at this weekend's venue, HBF Park, in February.

Aurelio Vidmar's men then threw away a lead against a 10-man Melbourne Victory side in the A-League Men's play-offs, conceding an equaliser in the 88th minute before losing on penalties.

Perth Glory vs Melbourne City Odds

A whole host of stars have since departed City including all-time A-League Men's record goalscorer Jamie Maclaren, six-goal forward Leo Natel and Player of the Season Tolgay Arslan.

Former players Aziz Behich and Marco Tilio have rejoined the club on a free and loan deal respectively but there are still noticeable gaps in the squad which need to be filled.

Perth, meanwhile, have had their own sorting out to do, and summer outgoings include Jonny Koutroumbis, Daniel Bennie and Aleksandar Susnjar.

There's been plenty of movement in the opposite direction, however, with Lachlan Barr, Taras Gomulka and Nicholas Pennington all linking up with the Glory, while there has been a homecoming for Joshua Rawlins who has spent the last couple of years in the Netherlands with FC Utrecht.

While City were given a bye in the qualifying rounds, Perth were forced to contest against Brisbane Roar to reach the Australia Cup round of 32.

The match took place at a neutral location just under two weeks ago with the Glory emerging 4-2 winners at the Darwin Football Stadium in Marrata.

Former Melbourne City favourite David Williams equalised for Perth after Keegan Jelacic had put the Roar in front, before new signing Abdelelah Faisal struck a three-minute brace in the second half.

Fellow new recruit Nathanael Blair made it four midway through the second 45 minutes and Brisbane could only manage to find one more before the game was out.

The Glory have now had a game to gel as a team, whereas City are lacking match practice having last played on May 5. That, plus home advantage, should give Perth real confidence that they can at least take the tie to extra-time on Saturday, and it would be a surprise if both teams didn't each manage to find the net in regulation time.

The double chance result on Perth and both teams scoring inside 90 minutes is Saturday's football bet of the day and can be backed at 13/10 on Betfred.

*Please click on the link above to be taken to the main Perth Glory vs Melbourne City page on betfred.com (or app) for all the live betting prices on this match.

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