The third of Saturday A-League Round 27 matches is between Brisbane Roar and Central Coast Mariners. The game is set to commence at 7:45pm with the game to be played at Suncorp Stadium. Home team Brisbane Roar go into the match as the favourites in the market. View our preview and teams for the game between Brisbane Roar and Central Coast Mariners.

Round: Round 27, Saturday, 12 April 2014, 7:45pm
Stadium: Suncorp Stadium
Head to head: Played: 33, Wins: Roar 18, Mariners: 6, Draws: 9
Previous encounter: Roar 2-1 Mariners, February 2 2014

Brisbane Roar $1.75 vs Central Coast Mariners $4.50 at Sportsbet Australia get a $250 FREE BET on this match

Brisbane Roar $1.78 vs Central Coast Mariners $4.25 at Luxbet Australia get a $500 FREE BET on this match

Odds Comparison:

Brisbane Roar	1.75	1.85	1.78	1.85	1.75	1.80
Draw	3.75	3.65	3.55	3.65	3.75	3.60
Central Coast Mariners	4.50	4.00	4.25	4.00	4.50	4.00

All odds are subject to change. Odds listed are correct at the time of the latest update.

Teams:

Brisbane Roar squad:
1.Michael THEO, 2.Matthew SMITH (c), 3.Shane STEFANUTTO, 5.Ivan FRANJIC, 7.Besart BERISHA, 8.Steven LUSTICA, 10.HENRIQUE, 11.Liam MILLER, 13.Jade NORTH, 14.Diogo FERRIERA, 15.James DONACHIE, 16.Jean Carlos SOLORZANO, 17.Matt McKAY, 18.Luke BRATTAN, 19.Jack HINGERT, 20.Matthew ACTON (gk), 22.Thomas BROICH, 23.Dimitri PETRATOS
**Two to be omitted**
Ins: 7.Besart BERISHA (returns from suspension), 14.Diogo FERREIRA (promoted)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 25.George LAMBADARDIS (knee – season)

Central Coast Mariners Squad:
1.Justin Pasfield (Gk), 3.Joshua Rose, 5.Zachary Anderson, 6.Brent Griffiths, 7.John Hutchinson (C), 8.Nick Montgomery, 9.Mitchell Duke, 11.Nick Fitzgerald, 12.Liam Reddy (Gk), 15.Storm Roux, 17.Anthony Caceres, 19.Matt Simon, 20.Bernie Ibini, 21.Mile Sterjovski, 25.Eddy Bosnar, 26.Kim Seung-yong, 27.Isaka Cernak, 28.Glen Trifiro
**two to be omitted**
Ins: 27.Isaka Cernak (promoted) , 28.Glen Trifiro (promoted)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 10 Marcos Flores (knee – season), 14.Michael McGlinchey (on loan – Vegalta Sendai), 18.Michael Neill (knee – season), 23.Adam Kwasnik (knee – season)

Preview:

Form:
Past five matches:
Roar: DWWDW
Mariners: LWWWL

The Game:

Central Coast will have to wait until moments before kick-off to know exactly just how much is on the line when they face Brisbane Roar at Suncorp Stadium. Whether Phil Moss alerts his players to Western Sydney’s result at Melbourne Heart remains to be seen, but the Mariners may be playing for second place and an automatic semi-final berth. If the Wanderers fail to win at AAMI Park, a Central Coast victory would see Moss’ side finish behind Premier’s Plate winners Brisbane. Even if Tony Popovic’s side are victorious, the Mariners are likely to be playing for a home final. Mike Mulvey may be looking for his Roar side to to work on small things ahead of a finals campaign which could complete a dominant season for Brisbane.

The big issue:

Roar – Brisbane are envied by most teams in the league, and it would undoubtedly be minor details Mulvey would want to fix ahead of the finals, but a clean sheet would be handy for the Roar. The premiers have kept a clean sheet in just three of 14 games in 2014. It has mattered little as Brisbane have surged to the top – 13 points clear of second. With finals around the corner, clean sheets could be a key and the Roar would be eager to enter the business end of the season by keeping the Mariners goalless.

Mariners – Bernie Ibini must surely be back starting? The attacker has produced off the bench in the past month and looked threatening against Beijing Guoan when Moss gave him a starting chance in the AFC Champions League. But the 21-year-old was back on the bench before being introduced in the 78th minute of the Mariners’ 3-1 loss in Perth, perhaps tired after the clash on Tuesday. With at least a goal needed against the Roar, and counter-attacking likely to be Central Coast’s best chance, Ibini must surely be starting again.

The game breaker:

Besart Berisha – the Albanian striker is fresh, and capable of turning games in either team’s favour this season. He returns from another suspension, with red cards likely to have cost him the golden boot. The gun striker’s finishing ability makes him a serious threat in every game with his 11 goals a key this campaign. Those matches missed see him four goal behind Newcastle Jets forward Adam Taggart.