Melbourne Victory have the chance to secure back-to-back wins when they head to McDonald Jones Stadium to take on Newcastle Jets this weekend.
Victory are returning to action following last week’s impressive come-from-behind triumph against Wellington Phoenix.
Another sensational Jake Brimmer free-kick was the highlight of the evening, as Tony Popovic’s side earned their first win of 2023.
Victory have also had a good week off the pitch.
The club announced the signings of Damien Da Silva and Connor Chapman over the last few days, both of whom will provide some much-needed defensive reinforcements.
Da Silva and Chapman have both been included in this week’s extended squad, alongside fellow recent signing Bruce Kamau.
Victory also confirmed that contract extensions have been agreed with promising youngsters Will Wilson and Matt Bozinovski, whilst Ben Folami has signed a new deal keeping him at the club until the end of the 2024/25 season.
Popovic will be hoping the positive news surrounding his squad can provide an extra boost to the players as they look to build on last week’s strong showing.
Victory will take additional confidence from their healthy recent record in Newcastle, winning four of their last five matches at McDonald Jones Stadium.
The encounter between these sides earlier in the campaign was arguably Victory’s best performance of the season, as they ran riot in a 4-0 win at AAMI Park.
Both sides remain outside the top six heading into the weekend, but the closeness of the competition means only a few successive positive results are needed to catapult any team back into finals contention.
Melbourne Victory Squad
1.Matt ACTON, 2.Jason GERIA, 3.Enrique LOPEZ, 5.Damien DA SILVA, 6.Leigh BROXHAM, 7.Chris IKONOMIDIS, 8.Josh BRILLANTE, 9.Tomi JURIC, 10.Bruno FORNAROLI, 11.Ben FOLAMI, 14.Connor CHAPMAN, 16.Stefan NIGRO, 18.Bruce KAMAU, 21.Roderick MIRANDA, 22.Jake BRIMMER, 24.Nishan VELUPILLAY, 28.Will Wilson, 29.Eli ADAMS, 30.Ahmad TALEB, 31.Matthew BOZINOVSKI
In: 5.Damien DA SILVA (new signing), 7.Chris IKONOMIDIS (returns from suspension), 14.Connor CHAPMAN (new signing), 18.Bruce KAMAU (promoted)
Out: 23.Nathan KONSTANDOPOULOS (omitted)
Unavailable: 4.Rai MARCHAN (injured), 17.Luis NANI (injured), 20.Paul IZZO (injured)
Recent history against Newcastle
The away team has had plenty of success over the last few years when these sides have met.
2022/23 (Nov 4): Victory 4-0 Jets
2021/22 (Apr 16): Jets 1-2 Victory
2021/22 (Feb 12): Victory 1-2 Jets
2020/21 (Apr 10): Jets 1-2 Victory
2020/21 (Feb 21): Victory 0-1 Jets
Match Details
Isuzu UTE A-League – Round 16
Newcastle Jets v Melbourne Victory
Sunday 12 February
Kick-off: 3:00pm (AEDT)
McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle
Broadcast: Paramount+, 10Bold
