Melbourne Victory will face Thailand’s Chiangrai United on Monday night (kick-off, 12am Tuesday morning) in its fifth AFC Champions League Group E fixture.
Summary
Victory will be aiming for its first win since arriving in Doha, where its campaign restarted last week with back-to-back matches against Beijing FC.
Head Coach Grant Brebner continues to assert his style on the new-look squad and has handed a number of players their debuts including new signings Jake Brimmer, Jacob Butterfield and Ben Folami.
Winger Callum McManaman also started in both games against the Chinese Super League side, while 19-year-old Gianluca Iannucci scored in his first Victory appearance.
Brebner is tasked with fielding his fittest and strongest eleven players, against a Chiangrai side which is growing in confidence.
Beijing FC once again proved two strong, as we fell short against the Chinese side #MVFC #ACL2020
— Melbourne Victory (@gomvfc) November 27, 2020
The opposition
Chiangrai recorded its first ever Champions League win on Friday, upsetting FC Seoul with a last-minute winner at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium.
Veteran striker, Bill scored both as the Beetles capitalised on Park Chu-young’s missed penalty.
Chiangrai arrived in Doha 14 games into the ongoing Thai League 1 season, where it currently sits fourth on the ladder.
HIGHLIGHTS | 🇹🇭 Chiangrai United 2-1 FC Seoul 🇰🇷
🎥 A brace from Bill gives the Beetles their first #ACL victory.
📰 #CRUvFCS Match Report: https://t.co/pqQm0AfGvT
#ACL2020 pic.twitter.com/vDkvyG5uma
— #ACLElite & #ACLTwo (@TheAFCCL) November 27, 2020
Head-to-head
An Ola Toivonen penalty separated Melbourne from Chiangrai when the teams first met in February.
ACL Group Stage 2020: Victory 1 – 0 Chiangrai at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium
As it stands
Victory and Chiangrai both sit on three points in Group E, while Victory has a slightly better goal difference.
Beijing leads the group with a 100% record and will face FC Seoul at 9:00pm on Monday night.
💪 Beijing FC qualify for the Round of 16
📈 The race to join them heats up as Chiangrai United pick up 3️⃣ points
🤨 Which Group E team will join Beijing in the next round? pic.twitter.com/4dCwNrhxAn
— #ACLElite & #ACLTwo (@TheAFCCL) November 28, 2020
Match details
Chiangrai United v Melbourne Victory
Jassim bin Hamad Stadium, Doha
Tuesday, December 1, 2020
Kick-off: 00:00 AEDT
Broadcast: Fox Sports and Kayo Sport
Melbourne Victory squad: Matthew ACTON (gk), Aaron ANDERSON, Nick ANSELL, Jay BARNETT, Marko BULIC (gk), Jacob BUTTERFIELD, Jacob BRIMMER, Leigh BROXHAM, Max CROCOMBE (gk), Ben FOLAMI, Gianluca IANNUCCI, Elvis KAMSOBA, Birkan KIRDAR, Brandon LAUTON, Luis LAWRIE- LATTANZIO, So NISHIKAWA, Callum MCMANAMAN, Marco ROJAS, Storm ROUX, Dylan RYAN, Adama TRAORE, Joshua VARGA
Unavailable: Robbie KRUSE (knee), Rudy Gestede
