- The Gold Coast Knights are clear favourites at 1.66 with Brisbane City 3.88 and the draw 4.15.
- Brisbane City have won two, drawn one and lost two of their last five competitive matches.
Knitters have the knack of a knockout
The NPL Queensland top-four clash will be in Gold Coast Knights' hands after this weekend if they can see off a Brisbane City side that will be looking to jump the queue for a finals appearance on Sunday. The Knights sit 4th in the regular-season table with about 32 points from 16 matches while Brisbane are 6th with around 26 points from 17.
The Knights are clearly the superior side right now, and look to have the team selection and tactics to see out a 2-1 type of result. Alex Morrison has got his players playing a 4-2-3-1 system that allows them to keep the ball and press when they want and stay clean and productive when they need to.
Max Brown is the real weapon in this side after a recent brace. Ante Poljak and Godfrey Debele add a set-piece threat and secondary scoring punch that makes the Gold Coast attack difficult to cage.
City are dangerous, but open at the back
Peter Gaffney's side are more direct and set up to be dangerous in transition, using compact midfield work to release Malakai Love-Semira, who leads the scoring and is their best breakaway runner. They have shown they can score - putting five past Magic United recently - but their 4-0 loss to Lions FC and 3-1 defeat at Eastern Suburbs indicate they can be breached.
City have been more effective on their travels in the NPL Queensland and will get their counter attacks against the Knights' midfield, but there are cracks there to exploit. Marcus Barnes and Jakob Mudnic should add bite around the main striker, but this game will likely be all about possession versus pace and that usually suits the Knights more - if they can dominate the midfield battle.
