Expert
Sydney FC and Melbourne City meet at Allianz Stadium in the opening match of Round 11 in the A-League. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 7:50pm (AEDT).
The last few weeks have seen the Champions of Australia start to hit their straps and bear their teeth.
Sydney come off four successive wins and they are setting a cracking pace at the top of the ladder.
Melbourne City have done well to hang onto Sydney’s tail and a tough victory against the Mariners last week still sees them within reach of the leaders.
A win tonight and City will look a team whose season is back on track after some patchy form that has seen them grind out wins rather than clinically dispose of the opposition.
Sydney come into this game off the back of the thrashing they handed the Wanderers last week and will feel amazing levels of confidence considering the style of football they have been producing in recent weeks.
In an amazing addition, Sydney welcome back their most influential player in Milos Ninkovic and apart from the long-term injury to Rhyan Grant, are at full strength.
City lose Bruce Kamau for this game and their injury list is starting to look a little concerning.
However, the consistent Neil Kilkenny comes back in and the visitors will still put a strong squad on the park for this important clash in the context of their season.
Prediction
It is hard to see anything but a Sydney victory here, such is their form and confidence. It is, however, usually tight between these two sides.
Sydney FC 2, Melbourne City 1.
Catch all the action on The Roar live coverage from 7:50pm (AEDT).