Match details
Melbourne Victory v Western Sydney Wanderers
AAMI Park
Saturday, October 15, 2022
Kick-off: 7.45pm AEST
Tickets: Ticketek
Broadcast: 10Bold, Paramount+
Preview
Melbourne Victory returns home to AAMI Park for the first time in season 2022/23 in an enthralling match-up with the Wanderers.
Both Melbourne and Western Sydney enter the clash off the back of impressive Round One wins.
Victory’s 3-2 win over Sydney FC at Allianz Stadium was the showcase game of the opening round and exceeded expectations.
A remarkable header from Nick D’Agostino followed by beautiful team goals ending in finishes from Chris Ikonomidis and Josh Brillante highlighted Victory’s potential this season.
Ikonomidis‘ form was a key takeaway from the first week and all eyes will be on team selection to see if the winger earns a starting berth after recording a goal and an assist in 28 minutes.
The home debut of fellow winger Luis Nani has Victory fans counting down the hours for Saturday night.
The Portugese star registered his first assist of the season in his debut appearance last week as he continues to build towards peak performance.
Jason Geria (hip), Tomi Juric (leg) and Matt Spiranovic (foot) will miss for Victory.
Victory and the Wanderers met twice last season. Western Sydney secured a 2-0 win at home in the first clash followed by a 1-1 draw at AAMI Park.
With a packed Victory active area and sold-out away bay ready to create an amazing football atmosphere, we’re set for an unmissable Saturday night.
What they said
Luis Nani – “We’re very enthusiastic about our first game at home. We want to play in front of our fans and win our first game at home, it’s very important.”
“We want to be a team who scores goals and creates a lot of chances. We showed that in the last game, even when we played a tough team away from home.”
Player in focus
Chris Ikonomidis was crucial in last week’s win, scoring the equaliser and assisting the winner in a stellar 28-minute second-half cameo.
The winger enjoyed an injury-free preparation into the season and looks primed for a big campaign.
Last time
Melbourne Victory 1-1 Western Sydney Wanderers
March 27, 2022
AAMI Park
Head to head
2021/22 (Mar 27): Victory 1-1 Wanderers
2021/22 (Feb 16): Wanderers 2-0 Victory
2020/21 (Apr 23): Victory 5-4 Wanderers
2020/21 (Feb 10): Wanderers 2-0 Victory
2020/21 (Aug 12): Wanderers 2-1 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
