Football
Anna Harrington 4y

City won't underestimate struggling Glory

Perth Glory are floundering at the bottom of the A-League table and struggling to hit the scoreboard but Melbourne City coach Erick Mombaerts says his side won't underestimate last year's premiers.

City are refreshed after having the bye in round eight and sit second on the table, but Glory have just one win from their opening seven games.

Glory controlled possession against Melbourne Victory but to little effect, with Robbie Kruse's goal condemning them to their third loss of the season.

Despite Victory finding joy on the counter, Mombaerts said his side would not be changing their aggressive, high-possession style.

But he emphasised the importance of high-quality possession that created genuine goalscoring opportunities.

"We never change our style," Mombaerts said.

"We try to set up our style, we try to keep our offensive options and to play a press.

"We know that it will be a tough game because (Perth are) a good team. They don't have the results but it's also the beginning of the season.

"We keep our idea, we keep our philosophy and we try to do as we have done before.

"Try to have possession, try to use our good possession - not to have possession (just) to say we have possession but to try and break and create opportunities to score."

Mombaerts said his side was still getting the balance between attack and defence right - they have scored 16 goals but conceded 11 - but said City's aggressive style required taking some risks.

City will be wary of Glory's threat on the transition, with Diego Castro, Chris Ikonomidis and former City skipper Bruno Fornaroli ahead of the ball.

"(We must) also be careful about transition because they keep a lot of the time, three players in front," he said.

"Yes, we have to be well organised but it's usually the same, so all A-League games are specific and it's always a tough game."

City will welcome back Connor Metcalfe after the Olyroo missed a week with a minor hamstring injury, while Richard Windbichler could return via the bench.

But Mombaerts said Florin Berenguer would not feature against the Glory as he continues to rehabilitate a hamstring injury.

Meanwhile Glory have named Tomislav Mrcela to return from injury.

STATS THAT MATTER

* City have won only one of their past 10 A-League games against Glory (D3, L6) and their last win against them came in January 2018 at HBF Park, while Glory are undefeated in their last six visits to AAMI Park to face City in the A-League (W3, D3).

* Melbourne City have won their past four A-League games on the bounce at AAMI Park; only once in their history in the competition have they won more games in succession at the venue - a five-game streak to begin 2013.

* Jamie Maclaren has scored nine goals in his past four A-League games, scoring two or more on each occasion. Only once in A-League history has a Melbourne City player scored at least once in more consecutive games (5 - Ross McCormack in January 2018).

* Former City captain, Perth's Bruno Fornaroli has scored 29 goals at AAMI Park in the A-League - the most of any player - in just 36 appearances at the venue.

Stats provided by Opta

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