Match Details
Melbourne Victory Youth vs Melbourne Heart Youth
Lakeside Stadium
Sunday 10 November 2013
5:45pm Kickoff
The Big Picture
This will be the first Melbourne youth derby to be played at Lakeside Stadium, with both sides coming into the game having started the season well. Melbourne Victory came up against a resurgent Roar in the first round, lucky to come away with a 3-3 draw despite holding a 3-1 lead, while easily dispatching the AIS 4-1 last week. Melbourne Heart have done what their senior side has failed to do in winning outside of Victoria. They beat both Perth and Brisbane Roar by a single goal margins, unlucky not to add to their tally in the west, while stealing the points up in Queensland with a last minute winner.
There have been movements between the clubs in pre-season, with Heart recruiting Luke O’Dea and Hernan Espindola from Victory, while James Karvelis went the other way.
Form Guide (This season)
Melbourne Victory – DW
Melbourne Heart – WW
Head to Head (Since 2011)
Melbourne Victory: Wins = 3, Goals = 7
Melbourne Heart : Wins = 1, Goals = 4
Melbourne Victory
Andrew Nabbout has been the standout figure for the youth side this season, and Victory go into this derby without him following a senior squad call-up to replace Kosta Barbarouses. They will have to find a new outlet for goals on Sunday, and will look to the likes of Christopher Cristaldo, Jimmy Jeggo and Jesse Makarounas to fill the void left by Nabbout. New boy Anthony Duzel got himself on the scoresheet against the AIS, and will look to make another impact off the bench this week.
John Buceto played in a deeper midfield role last weekend, but did not have his best game on the park as he failed to settle into his new position. Coach Darren Davies hinted at an extended run in the position with the quality Victory possess in their attacking stocks, and he believes that Buceto has the ability and skills to play as a defensive midfielder.
Melbourne Heart
Sitting pretty on the top end of the table early on in the season, Heart will be delighted with their start. Hernan Espindola seems to have settled quickly into the squad and has been one of their sparks in attack. He will also be keen to show Victory exactly what they’re missing after they let him go last season. Marko Stevanja has also had a good start to the season, pulling off vital stops to ensure Heart have collected all six points possible so far.
With the injuries to a number of senior players, Heart will be forced to field more of their younger players and should be without Paulo Retre and Nick Kalmar who featured in the loss to Western Sydney Wanderers on Friday.