A-League Preview: Melbourne Victory vs Melbourne City, key stats, line-ups, odds, prediction

Connor Metcalfe of Melbourne City-Jay Barnett of Melbourne Victory

A-League leaders Melbourne City take on bottom-placed Melbourne Victory this Sunday in the Melbourne Derby as both teams look to end the regular season with a win. 

Stadium: Marvel Stadium (Melbourne)

Key Statistics

The hosts have won just one of their last six games. They are on course to finish in the bottom two for two consecutive seasons after taking just five wins from 25 games this season. 

Melbourne City, meanwhile, have taken 15 wins from 24 games this season. They have lost just one game from their last eleven games.

Melbourne Victory

After their surprise, 6-1 win over Western United, Melbourne Victory will look to pull up another shocker when they welcome their city rivals Melbourne City to Marvel Stadium. 

The home team are sitting at the bottom of the table after playing 25 times and are looking to avoid finishing last for the first time in their club history. They are level on points with 11th-placed Newcastle Jets and will need to pick up a win here to stand any chance of finishing anything higher than their current position.

Steve Kean’s side head into this tie with one victory in their last eleven games and with the most goals conceded this season, having conceded 59 goals—eleven more than any other side.

After their huge win over Wester United in their last outing, they will go into this game full of confidence, hoping to cause another upset as they bring the season to a close. 

Marco Rojas, Birkan Kirdar, and Brandon Lauton remain sidelined with injuries, while Robbie Kruse and Nick Ansell are unlikely to be risked for this game despite making progress with their respective injury recovery.

Possible line-ups 

Matt Acton; Storm Roux, Leigh Broxham, Dylan Ryan, Adama Traore; Jacob Butterfield, Jake Brimmer; Elvis Kamsoba, Callum McManaman, Ben Folami; Rudy Gestede.

Melbourne City

In their last outing, league leaders Melbourne City were shocked by Brisbane Roar as they lost 3-0 to the Roar to bring an end to an eleven-game unbeaten run. 

They head into this tie with a point to prove and will be looking to bounce back in preparation for their upcoming games in the finals series in a fortnight.

Patrick Kisnorbo’s side are the league’s top scorers with 55 goals and have failed to score only once in the past 18 games. They have scored at least three goals in ten of their last 13 A-League wins, making them a side with high entertainment value. 

They will look to end their season with another wins in the Sunday derby and end the season with 16 wins.

Possible line-ups 

Tom Glover; Scott Jamieson, Curtis Good, Rostyn Griffiths, Ben Garuccio; Marco Tilio, Aiden O’Neill, Florin Berenguer; Craig Noone, Jamie Maclaren, Connor Metcalfe.

Unavailable

Jamie MACLAREN (national team duty), Nathaniel ATKINSON (hamstring), Andrew NABBOUT (adductor), Connor METCALFE (national team duty), Curtis GOOD (national team duty).

Betting Odds

Melbourne Victory : Draw : Melbourne City :: 4.50 : 4.20 : 1.70

Melbourne Victory GoalMelbourne City GoalBetting Odds
118.50
128.50
0111.00
0211.00
2212.00
1312.00

Prediction

Melbourne Victory 1-3 Melbourne City