Friday’s first A-League Round 14 match is between Newcastle Jets and Melbourne Victory. The opening kick-off is set to commence at 7:30pm AEDT with the game to be played at Hunter Stadium. The away team Newcastle Jets are the favourites for the match. View our preview and teams for the game between Newcastle Jets and Melbourne Victory.

Round: Round 14, Friday, January 10 at 7:30pm AEDT
Stadium: Hunter Stadium
Head to head: Played 25 – Win: Jets 12, Victory 9, Draws 4
Previous encounter: Victory 1-2 Jets, December 8, 2013

Newcastle Jets $2.80 vs Melbourne Victory $2.40 at Sportsbet Australia get a $250 FREE BET on this match

Newcastle Jets $2.65 vs Melbourne Victory $2.55 at Luxbet Australia get a $500 FREE BET on this match

Odds Comparison:

Newcastle Jets	2.80	2.67	2.65	2.67	2.80	2.63
Draw	3.40	3.35	3.20	3.35	3.40	3.40
Melbourne Victory	2.40	2.55	2.55	2.55	2.40	2.50

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

Teams:

Newcastle Jets squad:
1.Mark BIRIGHITTI (gk), 3.Taylor REGAN, 5.Ben KANTAROVSKI, 6.Zenon CARAVELLA, 8.Ruben ZADKOVICH (c), 9.Emile HESKEY, 10.Nathan BURNS, 11.Craig GOODWIN, 13.Joey GIBBS, 14.Josh MITCHELL, 16.Jacob PEPPER, 17.James VIRGILI, 18.James BROWN, 19.Michael BRIDGES, 21.Sam GALLAWAY, 20.Ben KENNEDY (gk).
Ins: 13.Joey GIBBS (promoted), 14.Josh MITCHELL (promoted) 17.James VIRGILI (promoted), 19.Michael Bridges (promoted).
Outs: 4.Kew JALIENS (suspension), 7.Andrew HOOLE (international duty – Young Socceroos), 15.Josh BRILLANTE (international duty – Young Socceroos), 22.Adam TAGGART (international duty – Young Socceroos)
Unavailable: 2.Scott NEVILLE (knee injury – long term), 25.Mitch COOPER (knee injury – long term), 12.Connor CHAPMAN (international duty – Young Socceroos),

Melbourne Victory Squad:
1.Nathan COE (GK), 2.Pablo CONTRERAS, 3.Adama TRAORE, 5.Mark MILLIGAN (c), 6.Leigh BROXHAM, 7.Gui FINKLER, 9.Kosta BARBAROUSES, 10.Archie THOMPSON, 13.Andrew NABBOUT, 14.James TROISI, 15.Mitch NICHOLS, 16.Rashid MAHAZI, 17.James JEGGO, 18.Francesco STELLA, 20.Lawrence THOMAS (GK), 22.Jesse MAKAROUNAS, 27.Christopher CRISTALDO, 31.Dylan MURNANE
**two to be omitted**
Ins: 10.Archie THOMPSON (returns from injury), 13.Andrew NABBOUT (promoted), 16.Rashid MAHAZI (promoted), 18.Francesco STELLA (promoted), 22.Jesse MAKAROUNAS (promoted), 31.Dylan MURNANE (promoted)
Outs: 4.Nick ANSELL (international duty – Young Socceroos, 24.Scott GALLOWAY (international duty – Young Socceroos), 25.Jason GERIA (international duty – Young Socceroos), 23.Adrian LEIJER (suspended)
Unavailable: 11.Connor PAIN (international duty – Young Socceroos)

Preview:

Form: 

Past five matches:

Jets: LLWLW
Victory: LDWWL

The Game:

Melbourne Victory will head to their least favourite A-League venue with a threadbare squad and the knowledge they have not won at Hunter Stadium since 2009. Melbourne have a winning percentage of just 18.18 away to the Jets. With Jason Geria, Nick Ansell, Connor Pain and Scott Galloway at the Under 22 Asian Championships in Oman, Victory head coach Kevin Muscat will also be missing Adrian Leijer (suspension), while Pablo Contreras (groin), Archie Thompson (hamstring) and captain Mark Milligan (knee) are all under injury clouds ahead of the trip to Newcastle.

The Big V were smashed 3-0 by league leaders Brisbane Roar last week to leave them 11 points adrift of the Queenslanders with just over half the season left before finals. Muscat’s men will start Friday night’s game just a point ahead of Newcastle, who have lost their past two matches, including a 1-0 defeat to Perth Glory last week. But Jets head coach Gary Van Egmond should be confident after watching his team knock off Victory 2-1 in Melbourne in Round 9. The Jets have generally stepped up against the top four sides this season, having won three times and lost just once in five fixtures.

The big issue:

Jets – After a strong November (three wins, one draw, one loss), December was a tough month for Newcastle (two wins, three losses) and has seen them drop back into mid-table. The goals have dried up for Van Egmond’s men with just two, including one own goal, in the past four games. Can Adam Taggart stand up again for the Jets? The 20-year-old striker has been overhauled at the top of the A-League scoring charts by Victory’s James Troisi (seven) with Taggart (six) scoreless in six matches.

Victory – Having only kept one clean sheet in their past 11 away matches, now is hardly the time for the Big V to suffer a personnel crisis at the back. With Milligan having limped out of training on Thursday due to his troublesome right knee, Muscat may not be able to select his captain in the centre of Victory’s back four, as many had predicted he would. Melbourne essentially have just two fully fit defenders – Adama Traore and teenager Dylan Murnane – ahead of the trip to Newcastle, so how will Muscat set his team up?

The game breaker:

Nathan Burns – The last time these two teams met, Burns scored twice in what was arguably his best performance of his loan spell at Newcastle. The 25-year-old forward is set to return to K-League club Incheon United after the clash with Victory and, while the Jets want to extend his loan until the end of the season, another match-winning performance against Melbourne would at least be the ideal going-away present for Newcastle.

Prediction: Jets 3-2 Victory

Newcastle started this season with four games unbeaten at home but have lost their past two fixtures at Hunter Stadium with Western Sydney and Perth taking the points. Van Egmond will be keen to halt that slide this week, as a strong home record could be the difference between Newcastle making the A-League finals or not.

The Jets’ best performances this season have been when teams such as Brisbane and Victory have attacked them, allowing the likes of Burns and Taggart to wreak havoc on the counter-attack. With Josh Brillante and Andrew Hoole away with the Australian U22 side, Newcastle have been robbed of two of their preferred midfielders but Craig Goodwin, who created five goal-scoring opportunities against the Glory, should replace at least some of that pair’s energy.

Despite Newcastle’s scoring woes over the past month, Melbourne are unlikely to keep a clean sheet and will probably focus on all-out attack instead. The possible return of Archie Thompson, who has missed the past five games, will be critical to Victory’s chances of scoring enough goals to win but the Big V’s threadbare defence could be too costly.

Source: www.footballaustralia.com.au