Melbourne City vs Newcastle Jets Prediction: Hosts to boost finals aspirations

The international break came at the wrong time for Melbourne City, who were just starting to build up some much-needed momentum, but they have a great chance to make it three wins in a row this Saturday (KO, 06:30) when they host Newcastle Jets at AAMI Park.

Below we have detailed all the latest team news and match odds ahead of this Australian A-League Men's clash, and offered our Melbourne City vs Newcastle Jets prediction.

The hosts' bid to make the top six appeared to be waning after a five-game winless run but a 1-0 victory over leaders Wellington Phoenix, followed by a resounding 7-0 thrashing of Western Sydney Wanderers, has brought them to within two points of the latter, who occupy sixth spot.

The visitors meanwhile can forget about any aspirations of reaching the finals; eight games without a win has left them second-bottom, just a point ahead of bottom-club Western United and nine points behind their opponents on Saturday.

Team News

On-loan Celtic winger Marco Tilio will miss out again for City due to a hamstring injury, and there are also big question marks over Scott Galloway and Benjamin Mazzeo, neither of whom have been in action since February.

If there are no new injury concerns it's likely Aurelio Vidmar will name an unchanged XI, meaning the league's all-time top scorer - Jamie Maclaren - will likely have to settle for a place on the bench again, despite netting against the Wanderers as a substitute.

The Jets are still missing long-term injury absentee Jacob Dowse, but the rest of the squad are fit to feature on Saturday.

After losing 1-0 at home to fellow strugglers Adelaide United just before the international break, the visitors could make a few alterations to their starting XI which may see the likes of Trent Buhagiar and Clayton Taylor handed opportunities from the off.

Match Odds

Melbourne City have won four of the last five meetings between these sides and last season's regular season champions have been installed as 8/15 favourites to claim victory this weekend, implying they have a 65.2% chance of success. The visitors can be backed at 18/5 to pick up a surprise win while the draw is available at 16/5.

Both teams to score has landed in five of the previous seven head-to-heads and it's 1/2 for City and the Jets to both get themselves on the score sheet on Saturday.

Melbourne City to win to nil @ 9/4

City look to have found some defensive solidity at just the right time. Back-to-back clean sheets - and three in their last five, conceding only three times - is a far cry from the nine goals they conceded in the space of eight days against Perth Glory (2-4) and Brisbane Roar (1-5) in the first half of February.

It comes as the Jets appear to have lost their mojo in front of goal; Robert Stanton's side have blanked in three of their last five and their season appears to be drawing to a premature close, with very little to play for.

Max Caputo to score anytime @ 23/10

The 18-year-old has had to be patient with an A-League legend ahead of him in the pecking order, but the struggles of Maclaren and City handed him an opportunity in the starting XI against Wellington Phoenix earlier this month.

After helping to end their winless run Vidmar gave another start to Caputo, who rewarded his boss with a goal in the 7-0 demolition of WSW.

That was Caputo's first strike of the league campaign and his second in all competitions after netting in the AFC Champions League against Chinese side Zhejiang Professional in October.

The striker should be given another opportunity from the start against the Jets, who have conceded at least twice in four of their last six games.

23/10 to score anytime feels generous for the striker of a team who are red-hot favourites to win.

Check out the rest of our Football Betting Tips here.