Jeff Hopkins is confident Melbourne Victory can take down the defending premiers in Round 10 of the Ninja A-League.
Melbourne City host his table-toppers at AAMI Park on Tuesday, December 23, kick-off 4:30pm AEDT, the first of two matches for the team in five days either side of Christmas.
Victory retook their place at the top of the ladder on Friday night, leapfrogging Canberra United thanks to a strong display away to Newcastle Jets.
Goals from Kennedy White, Rhianna Pollicina and Nicky Flannery did the damage at No.2 Sportsground – ideal preparation for the derby and a trip back to New South Wales at the weekend to face Central Coast Mariners.
Speaking during his pre-match press conference, Hopkins assessed a City side, who are in action for the first time since their lengthy unbeaten run was ended by Canberra United, and outlined Victory’s motivation for the derby.
“They’re a team that likes to keep possession and likes to build from the back, play through the thirds. They’ve got the ability too, with Holly McNamara up front, to go a little bit direct as well. So, there’s always that threat there.
“I think they play a way that we understand, and have played them a lot over the years. It’s going to be a cracking game.
“This is a derby. We’re always up for the derby. It’s always a big game for us. How they react, we can’t really do anything about that. We can just react to it out on the field.”
Hopkins delivered welcome news on the availability of Sienna Saveska, who has missed the start of the 2025/26 season due to a medical issue.
“Sienna is in the squad this week – straight in. With the condition that she had, she’s been training basically fully without too much contact. She’s done a week’s worth of contact training, and she’s fine now.
“So in terms of her fitness, she’s probably good enough to play 45 minutes at least. I’ll keep that to myself, what she’s going to be doing, but I imagine her to be involved on the pitch at some stage.”
Watch Hopkins’ full press conference below.
