Match Details
Melbourne City v Melbourne Victory
Date: Saturday 17 February
Kick-off: 7.45pm (AEDT)
Location: AAMI Park
Preview
It’s that time of the year again, IT’S MELBOURNE DERBY TIME!
Our boys in blue will be looking to get back on the winners list Saturday night when they face Melbourne City.
Tony Popovic’s side suffered defeat for the first time all season last weekend against Macarthur in a 0-1 loss at home, breaking a 15-game unbeaten run to start the season.
City, currently sitting in seventh place on the Isuzu UTE A-League table, also tasted defeat last weekend after a 5-1 thumping against Brisbane Roar.
Last time out against the cross-town rivals ended in a 0-0 draw in the Christmas Derby.
Speaking to the media on Friday, Head Coach Tony Popovic said his team will be taking valuable lessons from last week’s loss.
“You always learn whether there’s a win, draw or loss,” he said.
“You need to feel what those moments are like. And it’s very rare to go undefeated throughout the year. Every club experiences defeat. But complacency has never been an issue for us throughout the year.
“We’ve been very consistent in our performances and that was no different in the second half against Macarthur. I thought we were very good and so it didn’t look like a team that’s complacent or out of sorts.
“We’re playing well and we had a defeat. We have to move on and we moved on immediately after the game and everyone’s looking forward to tomorrow.”
Looking ahead to tomorrow’s Derby, Popovic said he expects City’s “big players to step up”.
“The derbies are unique. Derbies are special,” he said.
“All the players live for these moments and we expect no different from Melbourne City.
“On paper, they’re a very formidable side, especially in the front half of the field and we expect them to be ready for the game and their big players to step up.”
From Tony
The Stats
Squad
2.Jason GERIA, 3.Adama TRAORE, 5.Damien DA SILVA, , 7.Chris IKONOMIDIS, 8.Zinedine MACHACH, 10.Bruno FORNAROLI 11.Ben FOLAMI, 14.Connor CHAPMAN, 16.Stefan NIGRO, 17.Nishan VELUPILLAY, 18.Fabian MONGE, 19.Daniel ARZANI, 20.Paul IZZO, 21.Roderick MIRANDA, 22.Jake BRIMMER, 23.Salim KHELIFI, 24.Eli ADAMS, 25.Ryan TEAGUE, 27.Jordi VALADON, 40.Christian SICILIANO
Ins: 7.Chris IKONOMIDIS, 18.Fabian MONGE
Outs: nil
Unavailable: nil
