Friday will be a must-win game for Central Coast Mariners if the club want to keep their hopes of winning the A-League alive this season.

The Yellow & Navy will make the trip to face Western United, who are without a victory in their previous two matches.

Match preview

Western United have had an inconsistent season to this point, which has led to them heading into this game in ninth place where a defeat could see them sink to the foot of the table.

Should other results go against them, the club could be bottom of the league by the end of the weekend which is a situation that the team will be desperate to avoid.

However, the Western Service Crew will need to improve their recent form as they have failed to win their previous two matches after suffering a defeat against Brisbane Roar and then playing out a draw against Sydney FC.

The latter saw Western United throw away the lead twice, including a two-goal advantage as Robert Mak scored in the 89th minute to provide frustration to John Aloisi.

While their attacking prowess has been a strength for the club this season, the same cannot be said for the defensive side of the game as only one club has conceded more goals than them to this point.

That is something that Central Coast Mariners will be aiming to exploit this week, and after scoring 44 times already throughout this campaign, the team will be confident they can do just that.

That was clear when the two teams met earlier this season, which led to the Yellow & Navy securing three points with an impressive 4-2 victory, with four different goalscorers on the scoresheet.

Bringing another performance like that will be crucial as the title race goes down to the wire, as dropping points simply is not an option at this stage.

Central Coast Mariners currently trail the league leaders by 11 points, but with only 12 available before the end of the campaign, the club will also be relying on slip-ups from those above them.

After a 4-1 win during their last outing, the visitors should have plenty of confidence on Friday night as they look to finish the season strong.

Team News

Dylan Pierias was able to make his way into the starting XI for Western United last week, but that was due to Noah Botic arriving back from international duty late which could see him return this time around.

Josh Risdon was also unavailable due to suspension which led to Nikolai Topor-Stanley getting his chance from the first whistle as well.

Ramy Najjarine managed to make his debut from the bench last weekend, and he will be hoping for further opportunities this time around for the Western Service Crew.

Jason Cummings is sure to lead the line for the visitors as his impressive goalscoring record continued last time out as he scored his 15th goal of the season.

Beni N'Kololo was brought back into the Central Coast Mariners starting lineup after his suspension, and that is likely to remain the case this time around.

Western United possible starting lineup:
Young; Topor-Stanley, Imai, Lacroix, Garuccio; Wales, Doumbia, Diamanti, Pain; Botic, Prijovic

Central Coast Mariners possible starting lineup:
Vukovic; Roux, Windust, Hall, McGarry; Nkololo, Balard, Steele, Silvera; Cummings, Tulio

We say: Western United 1-3 Central Coast Mariners

These are two teams that each have something to fight for, but with the visitors trying to keep their title hopes alive they should be able to use their momentum throughout this season to take all three points.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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