Match details
Melbourne Victory v Melbourne City
AAMI Park
Saturday, October 22, 2022
Kick-off: 7.45pm AEST
Tickets: Ticketek
Broadcast: 10Bold, Paramount+
Preview
The biggest day on the Melbourne football calendar arrives on Saturday, the Melbourne Derby.
A-League heavyweights Victory and City are set to fight it out for local bragging rights in one of the most highly anticipated Derbies of recent memory as a potential sell-out crowd fills AAMI Park.
Victory enter the game hungry to redeem their efforts from last week’s 0-1 loss to the Wanderers in their home opener, while City arrive in hot form after winning their first two fixtures of the campaign.
As is always the case on such occasions, expect a fiery clash on the field and a vocal atmosphere off.
Victory will take an unchanged squad into the clash. For City, Taras Gomulka will miss through suspension while Curtis Good is a chance to return from injury.
Last season’s Melbourne Derbies all lived up to the billing, with two thrilling draws capped off by a triumphant 3-0 win to Victory in the last meeting in April.
Given the size of the occasion, eyes will be on Socceroos’ hopefuls from both sides to see who can perform on the big stage ahead of the FIFA World Cup in November.
The striker duel between stars Nick D’Agostino and Jamie Maclaren – who have both found the back of the net in the opening fortnight of the season – could be the key to claiming the Derby.
What they said
Nick D’Agostino – “It’s a Derby, it always should be fiery but especially this weekend. We’ve got a lot to prove, not just to the Boss and to the fans, but to ourselves.”
“We’ve got a lot of quality and we just need to show the angry side of us that wasn’t there last weekend. We need to bring it now.”
Player in focus
Paul Izzo will have his gloves full against a talented City attack and will need to be at his best to protect his goalmouth.
Victory’s new keeper was solid in his home debut last week, with the Wanderers’ sole goal largely out of his control.
Last time
Melbourne Victory 3-0 Melbourne City
April 9, 2022
AAMI Park
Head to head
2021/22 (Apr 9): Victory 3-0 City
2021/22 (Mar 19): City 1-1 Victory
2021/22 (Dec 18): City 2-2 Victory
2020/21 (Jun 6): Victory 1-1 City
2020/21 (Apr 17): City 7-0 Victory
Squad
#1 Matt Acton
#3 Enrique Lopez (Kadete)
#4 Rai Marchan
#6 Leigh Broxham
#7 Chris Ikonomidis
#8 Josh Brillante
#11 Ben Folami
#14 Jay Barnett
#15 George Timotheou
#16 Stefan Nigro
#17 Luis Nani
#18 Nick D’Agostino
#20 Paul Izzo
#21 Roderick Miranda
#22 Jake Brimmer
#23 Nathan Konstandopoulos
#24 Nishan Velupillay
#25 Noah Smith
#26 Lleyton Brooks
#28 Will Wilson
