A high-stakes Melbourne Derby is on the cards as City and Victory prepare to contest the fixture’s 37th iteration in Saturday night A-League Men’s action.
Aside from having massive ramifications for either side’s Premiership and Finals hopes respectively, the winner of the upcoming clash will also gain superiority in the head-to-head record between the teams, with that ledger currently balanced at 13-10-13.
City will be desperate for a Melbourne Derby win after it failed to extend its lead at the top of the table when it drew 2-2 against Western United last Saturday, with United equal on points but with two games in hand.
That clash was marked by a slow start by the City boys, conceding twice in the opening half an hour, before an incredible resurgence that saw them dominate the remainder of the game and restore parity thanks to goals from Connor Metcalfe and Jamie Maclaren.
The boys have enjoyed a rare full week off following that top-of-the-table clash and will hope to use that additional rest to their advantage when they come up against an undoubtedly fatigued Melbourne Victory who have had just three days break since their ACL loss to Vissel Kobe which was played in Japan midweek.
Their last clash in the league was a week before that, playing out a 1-1 draw with Central Coast Mariners on the Wednesday that we beat Macarthur FC at home.
Nick D’Agostino continued his clinical form in front of goal, netting a 38th-minute opener and extending his lead as the player with the best goals-per-90-minutes metric of 1.02, but the team was later pegged back by an 81st-minute Nicolai Muller equaliser.
Following that late dropping of points, Victory will be eager to avoid further hindrances to their Finals prospects, but they’ll have to overcome some unfavourable recent Derby history to achieve that; they’ve not beaten City in their past five attempts.
The upcoming meeting between the teams will make for a captivating contest as both sides have evolved markedly since their last meeting in Round 5, when a see-sawing affair that began with a Francesco Margiotta opener ended 2-2 following goals from Maclaren, Nabbout and D’Agostino.
Since then, City has become a goalscoring machine, netting a league-high 1.84 goals per game this season, whilst the Victory’s performances stagnated in the league following their FFA Cup success in the aftermath of the Christmas Derby.
Match Details
A-League Men
Melbourne City FC vs Melbourne Victory FC
Saturday 19 March, kick-off 7:45pm
AAMI Park
