Newcastle host City at McDonald Jones Stadium on Sunday.

The Victorian outfit sit in second spot on the A-League with five wins from eight games.

But they have conceded the equal most goals in the competition - 14, the same as 10th-placed Melbourne Victory.

Merrick feels his team can take advantage of City's leaky defence.

"They score goals, but they concede them," he said.

"They play a very open brand under their French coach who does a good job. That suits our style of play at home.

"I’m really looking forward to our boys playing an open brand in front of our crowd."

The Jets are coming off a 2-1 loss to Adelaide United.

Merrick claims it is a match his side should have won, considering they dominated shots created, chances created and crosses into the box.

"It’s amazing we didn’t get the three points," he admitted.

"The stats speak for themselves. I think they [the Jets] were very frustrated and flat after the game, but they’ve picked up this week.

"We’re doing something right. We’re getting the ball into the box to our players, we’re taking shots. We’re on the right track."