Newcastle Olympic welcome Valentine Phoenix on Saturday, Aug 8 at 6:00 AM in a Northern New South Wales fixture that's tighter on paper than the positions suggest — just 2 points split them in the table.

Newcastle Olympic come into this fixture out of form (1W 2L recently). Valentine Phoenix, meanwhile, arrive in mixed form (2W 1D 2L) — actually the better-performing side in recent weeks. Newcastle Olympic head into this on the back of a defeat, while Valentine Phoenix arrive off a win — momentum clearly with the visitors.

History strongly favours Newcastle Olympic here — they've won 6 of 10 previous meetings against Valentine Phoenix, with 3 draws. Their last encounter ended in Valentine Phoenix won 1–6. These two tend to produce goals — averaging 3.4 per game in recent meetings.

Verdict: This looks an evenly matched contest. Home advantage gives Newcastle Olympic a slight edge, but Valentine Phoenix are capable of causing problems. A draw would be a fair result.