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Another entertaining Melbourne derby awaits as City look to build on their opening round win by defeating last year’s grand finalists Victory. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 7:50pm AEDT.
As Socceroos fans breathe a huge sigh of relief after a 2-1 win over Syria earlier in the week, the focus turns back to the A-League with City and Victory headlining proceedings with another derby.
Meetings between these two clubs are always eventful affairs, with Victory securing two wins over their rivals last season after losing to City this time last year 4-1.
On that occasion, City opened the scoring through a brilliant Tim Cahill goal from distance.
Tonight, Australia’s greatest ever player once again comes into tonight’s contest in great form after a vital double against Syria that kept the Socceroos’ World Cup hopes alive.
The Victory meanwhile welcome back key internationals themselves with James Troisi, Mark Milligan and Kosta Barbarouses all returning tonight.
Kevin Muscat now has a complete squad to choose from after suffering a narrow loss to defending champions Sydney FC last week.
City on the other hand started the campaign on a terrific footing, defeating Brisbane Roar 2-0 at AAMI Park.
Plenty of improvement however is required from a team still missing Uruguayan ace Bruno Fornaroli.
A real positive was Ross McCormack’s influence, just seven days after he first signed for City.
The Scotsman did not find the back of the net on debut but worked up the pitch to receive the ball and played an important part in Kamau’s second.
In regards to team news, Victory have regained Troisi, Milligan and Barbarouses and of those, at least two, if not all three, should start the game after their exploits with their respective national teams.
Milligan will slot straight into midfield alongside Carl Valeri, meaning Broxham will either drop out or be shifted to left-back in place of Deng.
A decision will need to be made too on Leroy George. The Dutchman started centrally against Sydney and although he impressed, he was clearly underdone and will still take another fortnight at least to get cherry ripe.
Changes are expected for Victory, but much more stability can be expected in the City ranks. Joyce has a winning team on his hands and will see no reason to change anything.
However, midfield lynchpin Neil Kilkenny is fit again and is included in the squad, meaning Osama Malik’s place could be at risk.
Prediction
It is always tight when these two meet, and no matter what kind of form they are in, a tight tussle and fireworks are a guarantee. This is a derby that is tough to predict. On opening day, City got the job done but they were, by their own admission, well below their best.
Victory, meanwhile, were lacking personnel but dominated the best team in the league in patches, simply unable to find a killer pass. Efficiency will be the key.
With another big crowd expected, the occasion once again seems built for Cahill to deliver another big moment for City just like he did last year. Despite being 37 years of age, His performance against Syria proves that he remains the big trump card that City possess in order to get the job done.
City to win 3-2