The Melbourne City juggernaut rolls on to the nation’s capital as the league leaders face defending champions Canberra United.
Despite a number of outs in the first three weeks due to international duty, City still won each clash, amassing an impressive tally of 12 goals scored and only one conceded in that time.
The side beat Perth Glory 4-0 away last week while having the luxury of Kim Little, Jennifer Beattie and Alex Chidiac starting on bench.
Little, alongside Welsh superstar Jess Fishlock, will both be facing off against Seattle teammate Kendall Fletcher, all of whom arrived in Australia after taking out the National Women’s Soccer League.
Fletcher’s Canberra bounced back from an opening defeat to Brisbane Roar with a 3-0 win over Sydney FC before sitting out last week with a bye.
Selection News
No changes for Melbourne City, with Erin Herd retaining her spot as Trudy Burke’s back-up as Bri Davey continues to recover from injury, while the rest of the squad comes with a clean bill of health.
Montemurro may unleash all his international stars from the get-go, who have now had over a week to settle in the squad.
It’s a different case for Canberra, which confirmed English striker Jodie Taylor will have to sit out the season on the sidelines after succumbing to a knee injury.
The squad will however welcome back Matildas duo Michelle Heyman and Mackenzie Arnold from Matildas duty.
Key Players
Larissa Crummer
Larissa Crummer was rewarded for her blistering start to the season with a nomination for October’s Young Player of the Month.
She leads the competition’s goalscoring tally with four, one more ahead of teammate Marianna Tabain, who was also selected for the Player of the Month accolades.
“It’s great. It’s an honour,” Crummer said following the nomination.
“I’d like to thank Melbourne City, Joe [coach Joe Montemurro] and all the girls for pushing me and hopefully I can keep doing better.”
“I’ve been really happy with my start and especially the team’s start to the season; the highlights for me would be winning three matches out of three and playing and training with players of such high calibre, and, of course, scoring four goals.”
Kim Little
Alongside Crummer in the front third, Kim Little will add to the already formidable firepower posed by the City side.
She scores at least better than a goal every other game throughout her club career and already has over a ton of caps for Scotland at the age of 25.
In her two seasons at Seattle she’s amassed a number of individual and team honors, taking out the NWSL Golden Boot and Most Valuable player in her first season with the club, and winning the league Shield two years running.
That adds to a similar tally of accolades at Hibernian and Arsenal.
Predicted line-up
Substitutes: Erin Herd (GK), Amy Jackson, Beattie Goad, Alex Chidiac
Predicted score
They’ve already gone and knocked off their crosstown rivals and last season’s premiers, and now the champions await City’s wrath. Nothing but a City win, with the main question surrounding the eventual scoreline. We predict 4-0.