Melbourne Victory Men prepare for a thrilling double-header at CommBank Stadium, taking on the Western Sydney Wanderers on Saturday, March 15.
Off the back of a strong display over the Central Coast Mariners on home soil, Victory will be determined to keep up their levels against the in-form Wanderers.
Playing out a 2-2 draw in their previous meeting at AAMI Park this season, Victory will aim to repeat their fortunes of last season at CommBank Stadium, where Bruno Fornaroli’s four-goal haul led the Vuck to a 4-3 win.
Melbourne Victory
Entering Round 22 off two consecutive draws against Melbourne City and Brisbane Roar, Arthur Diles’ side produced one of their most impressive performances and results against the Mariners – defeating the reigning treble winners 3-0 at AAMI Park.
Nishan Velupillay opened the scoring and ended his brief drought in front of goals in the ninth minute with a clinical finish, while Bruno Fornaroli doubled Victory’s lead on the brink of half-time.
Demoted to the bench for the first time this season, Zinédine Machach impressed in his substitute appearance after firing in his fourth goal of the 2024/25 campaign with a scorching strike from well outside the penalty area.
Making his Victory debut after receiving the MVP award during the Young Socceroos’ Asian Cup-winning campaign, Alex Badolato caught the attention of fans in his 25-minute stint – recording four key passes and creating one big chance.
Victory’s defensive structure was certainly of note too against the Mariners, limiting the Coasties to just one shot at goal over the entire 90 minutes.
Victory were rewarded with an important three points in their hunt to secure an Isuzu Ute A-League Finals position, while keeping their eighth clean sheet of the season – the third most in the league by a solid margin.
In approaching Round 23, Victory are amid a four-game undefeated streak while recording just a single loss in their past seven outings – running away victorious on four occasions during this period.
Trusting upon a more youthful core this season, Victory were pleased to announce that four of their players had been named in the Australian U23s squad earlier this week.
Kasey Bos, Jordi Valadon, Joshua Rawlins and Jing Reec will all prepare to represent Australia in the upcoming international window – a great reward for the performances of these young guns in Navy Blue.
Taking on the Wanderers who sit just two points behind Victory with a game in hand, coming away with a favourable result will certainly be on top of the checklist for Victory in the West of Sydney.
Round 23 Squad
1. Mitch LANGERAK, 3. Adama TRAORE, 4. Lachlan JACKSON, 5. Brendan HAMILL, 6. Ryan TEAGUE, 7. Daniel ARZANI, 8. Zinedine MACHACH, 9. Nikolaos VERGOS, 10. Bruno FORNAROLI, 11. Clerismario SANTOS RODRIGUES, 14. Jordi VALADON, 16. Joshua RAWLINS, 17. Nishan VELUPILLAY, 18. Fabian MONGE, 19. Jing REEC, 21. Roderick MIRANDA, 22. Joshua RAWLINS, 27. Reno PISCOPO, 28. Kasey BOS, 30. Daniel GRASKOSKI
Ins: 3. Adama TRAORE (promoted), 18. Fabian MONGE (promoted)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 23. Alexander BADOLATO (unavailable due to league regulations), 25. Jack Duncan (concussion)
Western Sydney Wanderers
Currently sat sixth amid a frantic race for the top six, the Wanderers have been the team to beat in recent weeks.
While experiencing a difficult start to the season that was particularly exemplified after two consecutive home losses to Central Coast and Auckland respectively, Alen Stajcic’s side has certainly since turned the corner.
Western Sydney are in the midst of a five-game undefeated streak, impressively winning four of these games with the only draw coming after a late Sydney FC comeback at Allianz Stadium.
Possessing a plethora of attacking talent, the Wanderers are leading the league in goals scored.
Led by attacking trio Nicolas Milanović, Brandon Borrello and Zac Sapsford – who have all registered over 10 goal contributions so far this season, the Wanderers proved their quality after claiming a draw against Victory at AAMI Park in January.
