Melbourne Victory host Central Coast Mariners in Matchweek 3 of the A-League Men.
The action continues thick and fast for Giovanni Savarese’s team as they return from their trip to Indonesia and turn quickly to domestic matters at AAMI Park on Sunday, November 1, kick-off 3:00pm AEDT.
Both Victory, whose match is followed by Ninja A-League action, and Mariners are chasing their first wins of the 2026/27 season this weekend, having each drawn their home openers and lost away to Wellington Phoenix.
Supporters can purchase their tickets for the Kids Round double-header now by clicking here, with the A-League Women’s team also in action, kick-off 5:45pm AEDT.
The Boys in Blue
Melbourne Victory, playing their sixth match in 23 days, is aiming to make it three straight home wins over Central Coast Mariners when they welcome John Hutchinson’s team to Victoria.
The Boys in Blue, despite taking a deserved lead through Keegan Jelacic’s thumping early strike and having the better chances of the second half, were forced to settle for a point against crosstown rivals Melbourne City in their latest A-League Men action last Saturday.
They lost Joshua Inserra to injury during that episode of the Melbourne Derby, with the defender now set for an extended period on the sidelines, but got through the midweek AFC Champions League Two trip to Indonesian champions Persib Bandung, result omitted, unscathed.
Victory is boosted by the return of all-action midfielder Louis D’Arrigo, who last played on Match Day 1 of the ACL Two against Thể Công-Viettel in Hanoi. Whilst Captain, Jason Davidson, and attacker Guillermo May are ready for maximum involvement after staying in Australia.
MW3 squad: 1. Jack WARSHAWSKY, 3. Jason DAVIDSON, 4. Philipp ZIEREIS, 5. Brendan HAMILL, 6. Louis D’ARRIGO, 8. Jordi VALADON, 9. Harrison SAWYER, 10. Denis GENREAU, 11. Clerismario SANTOS RODRIGUES, 14. Matthew GRIMALDI, 15. Thomas LOCKYER, 18. Franco LINO, 21. Guillermo MAY, 22. Xavier STELLA, 23. Keegan JELACIC, 25. Jack DUNCAN, 26. Jack MIHAILIDIS, 29. Michael GHOSSAINI, 36. Harrison SHILLINGTON, 44. Charles NDUKA.
Ins: 6. Louis D’ARRIGO.
Outs: 16. Joshua INSERRA.
Unavailable: 16. Joshua INSERRA (injury).
Last time out
Two second-half goals saw Melbourne Victory lose out to Group E leaders Persib Bandung in the AFC Champions League Two on Wednesday night.
Montenegrin frontman Balsa Sekulic struck twice, each time picking out the far corner with a low right-footed finish, to end Victory’s unbeaten start in the competition.
The result might have been different had the visitors capitalised on a promising spell conceding the opener, but Santos’ curling effort bounced away off the crossbar with goalkeeper Fitrah Maulana beaten all ends up.
Their most recent A-League outing ended 1-1 with Melbourne City a week ago.
Wellington Phoenix took another scalp on home soil, following up their Matchweek 1 success over Melbourne Victory with a 2-0 win against Central Coast Mariners.
Forwards Corban Piper and Rafael Durán did the damage at Hnry Stadium, netting in the 55th and 57th minutes respectively, as Central Coast were unable to build on the point earned versus Newcastle Jets in the F3 Derby.
It could have been a very different tale had the away side’s striker Oliver Lavale not been denied the opener by a tremendous Bill Tuiloma goalline clearance in the 18th minute.
