The Melbourne Derby dawns upon us once again with over 40,000 spectators set to flock to Etihad Stadium to witness one of the A-league’s most anticipated fixtures.
The corresponding fixture in round three last season ended in an exciting 5-2 win to Victory, who twice came back from a goal down to storm to victory.
This season City arguably comes in with a more balanced – albeit depleted – squad, with a number of names still out with injury.
North Ireland international Aaron Hughes is still out, Ivan Franjic suffered a setback and is set to sit out up to two months on the sidelines, while Harry Novillo, Corey Gameiro, James Brown, Ben Garuccio and Marc Marino also remain on the casualty list.
A huge inclusion to the starting lineup will be Aaron Mooy, who was a substitute last week against Sydney FC following Socceroos duty.
Joining him on the subs bench last week was Michael Zullo, who didn’t appear off the pine last week, but will be strongly in contention for a start this week.
Elsewhere, Stefan Mark returns from international duty and NPL star Matt Millar is named in the extended squad, joining fellow youth stars Wade Dekker and Hernan Espindola in the team, both of whom are rewarded for their performances last game with selection again this week.
For Victory, Kevin Muscat faces a huge selection dilemma with no less than four faces also returning from international duty.
Connor Pain, Jason Geria, Scott Galloway and Giancarlo Gallifuoco are available to play, while captain Carl Valeri also returns from injury.
Making way are George Howard and Stefan Nigro, and Leigh Broxham is suspended after a red card against Adelaide in Round One.
The main talking point will be who’ll deputise for Broxham in the heart of defence, does new signing Gallifuoco get the nod for his A-League debut or will Thomas Deng be rewarded for his strong 15 minute cameo with a first starting debut.
Key Battles:
Fahid Ben Khalfallah vs. Paulo Retre
Retre was serviceable when given a run at right back in the latter stages of last season, and has been John van’t Schip’s preferred backup option to Ivan Franjic this campaign. Khalfallah may be his most imposing direct opponent yet, and much of the outcome may depend on how he copes with the Tunisian’s threat.
Carl Valeri vs Aaron Mooy
The obvious key match-up in the middle of the park will go along way towards deciding the derby as two of the league’s blue-chip midfielders graft it out in the engine room. Whether Valeri can mark the City marquee out of the game in his return game remains to be seen, but he’ll be aiming to restrict the space in which he has to work with.
Expected line-ups:
Prediction:
Neither side will be willing to give anything away after a point apiece last week. They match up incredibly closely across the park and the midfield tussle will go a long way toward deciding the outcome. 1-1 draw