AFC Cup 2023/2024 Central Coast Marines Vs Bali United Prediction: Don't Be Nominated

Bali United will play an away match on the third matchday of the 2023/2024 AFC Cup group stage against the Central Coast Marines. (Photo: Twitter/@BaliUtd)

JAKARTA - Bali United will play an away match on the third matchday of the 2023/2024 AFC Cup group stage against the Central Coast Marines at the Central Coast Stadium, Gosford, New South Wales on Thursday, October 26. Serdadu Tridatu is determined to maintain the top position of the Group G standings.

Group G's competition is currently fierce. Bali United still leads in first place with the same points as Terengganu FC. Both competed only by goal difference.

Meanwhile, the potential opponent this time, namely CC Mariners, is in third place with three points.

For Bali United, the match against CC Mariners is a moment to advance to class. Given that the Australian representative club is indeed the champion of the A League season 2022/2023.

But on the other hand, Serdadu Tridatu must also be careful considering their record against the Australian team is not too good. The 2020 season dream of competing in the Asian Champions League ran aground in the hands of Melbourne Victory.

Bali United coach Stefano Cugurra said they did not want to set the target too high. He hopes his team will at least draw.

"We brought 23 players to Australia and had time to rest there. We have set a target of at least being able to bring 1 point from their headquarters," said the coach who is familiarly called Teco as quoted by the club website.

To be able to secure that target, recovery of players is an important asset. Moreover, so far Bali United has more agenda matches than the home team.

Serdadu Tridatu has undergone 16 weeks of Liga 1 2022/2023, or almost completed 1 round of competition and is in 6th place. Meanwhile, the Central Coast has only been in the Australian League for a week and is currently entrenched at the bottom.

CC Mariners also did not warm themselves up in the field for a long time. The reason is, at the Australian Cup which started from August to October, the Central Coast was immediately eliminated in the round of 32.

Bali United have so far been in a positive trend because in the AFC Cup they created one victory and one 1-1 draw against Terengganu. Meanwhile, the Central Coast lost 1-0 to Terengganu in the opening match, but then rose by winning 9-1 over Stallion Laguna.

Bali United are ahead in points compared to CC Mariners. However, in terms of goals, the Australian team was more eye-on because they had scored 9 goals and conceded 2 times. Meanwhile, Bali scored 6 goals and conceded 3 times.

Player Composition Forecast

Bali United (4-2-3-1): Adilson Maringa; Novri Setiawan, Elias Dolah, Jajang Mulyana, Ardi Idrus; Ricky Fajrin Saputra, Mohammed Rashid; Private Mbarga, Eber Bessa, Irfan Jaya; Ilija Spasojevic

Coach: Stefano Cugurra/Teco

Central Coast (4-2-3-1): Danny Vukovic; Mikael Doka, Brian Kaltack, Nathan Paull, Jacob Farrell; Joshua Nisbet, Maximilien Balard, Laughngel Torres, Marco Tulio, William Wilson; Alou Kuol

Coach: Mark Jackson