Melbourne City vs Perth Glory Prediction: Ugarkovic to grab another goal against the Glory

A seven-game unbeaten run for Melbourne City came to an emphatic end on January 18 as they lost 3-0 to Auckland and that defeat has been followed by two more, meaning Aurelio Vidmar's side head into Saturday's Australian A-League Men's clash with Perth Glory at AAMI Park (06:00) on the back of three consecutive losses.

Read below for my Melbourne City vs Perth Glory predictions to see whether I'm backing the hosts to get back on track this weekend.

Team News

Melbourne City will again be without Kai Trewin (groin) and Andrea Kuen (hamstring), although both are likely to be in contention for next Saturday’s Melbourne derby.

Yonatan Cohen (knee) and Jimmy Jeggo (Achilles) remain sidelined with neither expected to return until the latter stages of the season.

Andrew Nabbout and Jayden Necovski are still recovering from ACL injuries but ran this week for the first time since surgery.

Alessandro Lopane (knee) isn't yet available for the senior side but will feature for the youth team next weekend to build up his fitness.

Max Caputo missed Melbourne City's first 14 league games this season but made his first appearance since last August's 5-4 Australia Cup defeat to Perth Glory as a starter in last Friday's 1-0 defeat to Adelaide United.

Marco Tilio made his return from injury against Macarthur last month and after making his second successive substitute appearance at Coopers Stadium, will be looking to earn a first start since November 11 this weekend.

Medin Memeti, meanwhile, is on international duty.

Football Odds

Perth Glory boss David Zdrilic confirmed that mid-season signing Takuya Okamoto could feature in Saturday's matchday squad, but defender Andriano Lebib (knee) will again miss out through injury.

David Williams (knee), Josh Risdon and Lachie Barr (both unspecified) are also out, while Jaylan Pearman and Adam Bugarija are both on international duty.

Melbourne City vs Perth Glory Odds

Melbourne City have won their last two games against Perth Glory at AAMI Park and are 1/4 to beat a side 14 points below them in the table, implying an 80% probability, while their visitors are 8/1, or an 11.1% chance, to triumph on their travels for just the second time this season and pick up a first victory away to City since January 2021.

The draw is priced at 4/1, both teams to score at 4/5, and over 2.5 total goals at 4/9.

Caputo (11/10) heads the anytime goalscorer market with last season's Golden Boot winner Adam Taggart (21/10) first up for the away outfit.

To Win to Nil - Melbourne City @ 6/5

I successfully backed City's local rivals to win without conceding at AAMI Park on Friday in my Melbourne Victory v Wellington Phoenix predictions piece, and I'm backing Vidmar's side to do the same on Saturday at the same stadium.

City may have lost their last three games but all three defeats came on their travels and at home, the three-time Premiership winners have won their last three, keeping a clean sheet in each. They beat Wellington Phoenix 2-0 on January 3, overcame Western United by the same scoreline four days later, and another four days after that edged out Brisbane Roar 1-0.

The Glory, meanwhile, have blanked in three of their seven away matches this season, two of which have come in their three defeats on the road.

Zdrilic's charges also failed to score in November's reverse fixture in Perth as City beat them 5-0 at HBF Park. The Glory's last visit to AAMI Park to take on City was also disastrous as they were humiliated 8-0 last April.

Saturday's hosts will be desperate to break out of their losing rut and while confidence is never likely to be high after three straight defeats, they surely took some solace from the fact the most recent two have only been by a single goal, and against two sides in the top six.

Mathew Leckie, Tilio and Caputo all received vital minutes last weekend in their fight to reach full fitness and that should aid them for this week's game.

Anytime Goalscorer - Steven Ugarkovic (MC) @ 21/10

City midfielder Steven Ugarkovic is by no means a prolific goalscorer with four strikes from 26 appearances for Newcastle Jets in 2019/20 still his highest-scoring season as a professional.

However, the 30-year-old is already on three in 15 outings this term, needing just one to equal his best-ever season tally, and he usually reserves his best for the Glory.

Ugarkovic has scored more goals (four) against Perth than any other side in his career, with half (two) of that total coming in City's 5-0 win at HBF Park in November.

The Australian bagged a first-half brace, netting in the 39th and 44th minute, to send his side into the interval two goals to the good, and his third strike of the campaign came two games later against another lowly team, Brisbane Roar, as City ran riot again away from home, winning 4-1 at Suncorp Stadium.

Ugarkovic was also on target in City's 8-0 win over the Glory last April, so his record reads as three goals in his last two league games against Perth.

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