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It’s that time of the season again when winning means everything. Tonight, Melbourne Victory host Perth Glory at Etihad Stadium in the first elimination final of the A-League’s brand-new finals format. We’ll have live scores and updates from 7.30pm AEDT.
With Ange Postcoglou at the helm, Melbourne will surely be favourites. But finals football is won on a foundation of strong defense and in this department the Victory have struggled all season, conceding some 45 goals.
They enter the finals with the worst defense in the top six, rivalled only by cellar dwellers Newcastle and Wellington.
Still, the regular season counts for little at this stage. Melbourne are expected to start with a back four featuring rookies Jason Geria and Scott Galloway on either side of Daniel Mullen and Adrian Leijer.
The danger men for the Victory however, will be Marco Rojas, Archie Thompson and Marcos Flores. If Perth can keep those three quiet, they should be able to get a result away from home.
For the Glory, Alistair Edwards will have the services of Shane Smeltz and Liam Miller again, after Smeltz declared himself fit to play.
Will Edwards reshuffle his experimental line-up from last week? It will be difficult to drop any of the front three for Smeltz, with Dean Heffernan, Ryo Nagai and Adrian Zahra all in good form.
The key for Perth will be to stop the Victory getting control of the midfield.
Captain Jacob Burns will have a big task tonight in closing down the space in the centre of the park, while the lack of pace between centre backs Steve Pantelidis and Michael Thwaite may be a concern against Melbourne’s mobile front three.
Last time these sides met in round 26, the Victory were beaten in a five-goal thriller, with Josh Risdon’s late winner sealing the points for Perth.
Will the Glory be able to stun Melbourne again, or will the home side march into the semi finals?
If Perth win tonight, they will face the Western Sydney Wanderers at Parramatta Stadium, while Melbourne would face the Central Coast Mariners in Gosford.
There are certainly no easy games from here on in. One side will keep their A-League Finals hopes alive while the other can book end-of-season holidays. Find out how it all unfolds right here from 7.30pm AEDT.
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