The Roar's A-League Men tips and predictions: Round 26 - the jostle for finals positions is on in earnest
Here is the way the Roar expert panel sees all the action unfolding across the final weekend of play prior to the semi-finals.
Sydney FC will be out to consolidate their position in the A-League top six when they host Melbourne Victory in the third instalment of the ‘Big Blue’ for the season. We’ll have live scores from 7.45pm AEDT.
Given that Sydney FC were destroyed 7-2 by the Central Coast Mariners in their first encounter of the season, it is hard to believe they’ve beaten their NSW rivals in the second and third encounters between the two.
But they deserved their three points last weekend in a remarkably controlled performance against a side who, up until the week before, occupied top spot on the A-League ladder.
Melbourne Victory backed up from their 5-0 thrashing of Newcastle with a 1-1 draw at Suncorp Stadium in difficult conditions.
Ange Postecoglou’s side are essentially treading water for the next three weeks now; they won’t overcome the Mariners in second, and they are guaranteed a home final with a nine-point lead over fifth.
Still, they must take this opportunity to try and work several of their injured brigade back into the frame, Archie Thompson will need these last three weeks to sharpen up before the finals. Unfortunately for the Victory, Marcos Flores remains unavailable.
On the evidence of last weekend Sydney FC should produce another strong performance at Allianz tonight.
But anybody who has seen the Sky Blues play throughout the season knows the difficulty they have in achieving consistent results and really, we could see anything from them tonight.
Coupled with the fact that Melbourne Victory have beaten Sydney on both times they’ve met this year and we should see Postecoglou’s side get at least a point here.