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Last week's game in Wellington, whilst entertaining, almost turned farcical, as the pitch became increasingly water-logged. A repeat of the weather will do nothing for the many new eager fans, keen to watch their team in action against the Mariners.
The unpredictability of results early in the season will continue for this game, as either team could come away with the win. Betfair.com has the Phoenix to take out the game, at $1.98. The draw is at $3.45 whilst CCM are the declared underdogs at $3.80.
Expect the match to be closer than this. Wellington looked good in their first outing - a 3-3 draw with Gold Coast United, and the Mariners have taken away a 4 points in the first two rounds.
Central Coast are coy about Argentine import Patricio Perez. After taking a knock moments before the first match of the season, he is slowly returning to full fitness, but it unlikely to feature this weekend.
"“Everybody is waiting to see him, we’ve seen him in training, we know what he can do, and we’re all desperate for the fans to see him as well" said NZ international and Central Coast midfielder Michael McGlinchey.
McGlinchey is keen to (pardon the pun) rain on the New Zealand team's parade, and is also weary of the weather.
"It will be good because I know they are coming out in their thousands to watch the team after the success of the World Cup so hopefully it is as busy as it was the other night [against Gold Coast United] but hopefully there’s not as much rain, and we can have a good game."
“I’d love to get a goal, I’m due one actually so hopefully I can produce one there.”
Wellington Phoenix striker Chris Greenacre says this weeks game against CCM will be a tough one. He is hoping for improvement from last week's draw with Gold Coast, and doesn't want to use weather as an excuse for performance.
"Championship-winning teams need to adapt to the conditions. We’ve got a point on the board and we scored three goals at home, so that’s positive.
"But we stopped doing what we do well (during the game) and perhaps subconsciously we thought we already had the game won when we were 3-1 up.
"We needed to play smarter football in those conditions and unfortunately we didn’t in the latter stages."
The game kicks off in Wellington on Sunday at 3pm local time.
Photo: The Mariners squad in their 'ambassador' team shirts. Credit John Dewberry
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