Western Sydney Wanderers vs Melbourne City – Preview, H2H, Line-ups, Prediction | A-League 2021-22

Kwame Yeboah of Western Sydney Wanderers against Melbourne City FC
Kwame Yeboah of Western Sydney Wanderers against Melbourne City FC - IMAGO / AAP

Western Sydney Wanderers will be back in A-League action this Friday as they welcome defending champions Melbourne City to the CommBank Stadium.

Venue: CommBank Stadium (Sydney)

Key Statistics

Western Sydney Wanderers have won just one of their last four home games (D2, L2).

The hosts have scored the most goals in the competition at an average of 1.90 goals per game.

Melbourne City have lost just one of their last eight away games (W4, D3).

For Melbourne City, seven out of ten league games (this season) have featured over 2.5 goals.

Head to head

Western Sydney Wanderers have a good record against Melbourne City and have won 12 out of 28 matches played between the two teams. Melbourne City have managed 10 victories against the Wanderers and will want to cut the deficit on Friday.

Latest performances in all competitions

WS Wanderers: L-W-L-D-L

Melbourne City: W-L-W-D-D

Western Sydney Wanderers

Western Sydney Wanderers will look to get back to winning ways when they welcome defending champions Melbourne City to CommBank Stadium on Friday night. 

The hosts come into this tie on the back of a 1-0 loss to Western United in their last league outing. In a disappointing game at the CommBank Stadium, the hosts controlled much of the ball and created many chances, ending the game with 69% possession and 16 goal attempts. 

But for all their ball possession, Marc Rudan’s men had only one shot on target all game and were eventually undone by a 29th-minute goal from Aleksander Prijovic.

The result leaves them languishing in ninth place, with nine points after nine games. 

After finishing outside of the playoffs position last season, they are aiming to end this season within the top six. But with one win from their last six league games, their chances of winning this game appear slim.

Possible WS Wanderers starting line-up

Tomas Mejias; Rhys Williams, John Koutroumbis, Thomas Aquilina, Adama Traore; Steven Ugarkovic, Terry Antonis, Ramy Najjarine; James Troisi, Dimitri Petratos, Tomer Hemed.

Injured: Vedran Janjetovic 

Doubtful: None 

Suspended: None 

Melbourne City 

Although Melbourne City’s title defence has not gone as well as they would have hoped, after taking 16 points from the 30 available points, they will be pleased with their league position.

The visitors are currently sitting in second place, three points behind Western United, who are top of the table.

They come into this tie on the back of a 4-2 win over Newcastle Jets last week. They will want a similar result in this fixture. 

Given that they have won two of their last four away games, they will be confident of winning this game. 

Possible Melbourne City starting line-up

Tom Glover; Scott Galloway, Rostyn Griffiths, Curtis Good, Scott Jamieson; Aiden O’Neill, Connor Metcalfe, Florin Berenguer; Mathew Leckie, Andrew Nabbout, Jamie Maclaren.

Injured: None 

Doubtful: None 

Suspended: None 

Prediction

WS Wanderers 1-2 Melbourne City