Melbourne Victory Men prepare to face Macarthur FC in a critical penultimate regular season fixture on Friday, April 25.
Defeated by all-but-confirmed Premiers Auckland FC at AAMI Park, Victory will look to rebound in an important match-up against Macarthur FC.
Playing the Bulls on 10 occasions since their inception, Victory has come out on top in 50% of their head-to-head meetings with the Campbelltown-based side.
Melbourne Victory
Straight off two hard-fought and thrilling wins against Adelaide United and Wellington Phoenix respectively, Victory’s 0-2 defeat to league-leaders Auckland FC was certainly tough to take.
While the Vuck controlled the majority of possession and fired more shots on target, clinical attacks combined with exceptional goalkeeping saw the visitors come away with all three points.
It was yet another result that simply could have gone another way for Victory, who sit second on the league’s expected points ladder.
Despite outcomes often not falling the way they are expected to based on the performances of Navy Blues this season, the final two fixtures of the regular season will be crucial.
To put it simply, securing a point against either Macarthur or Newcastle over the next two games will almost certainly confirm Victory’s place in the top six to play in the Isuzu Ute A-League Finals.
Beyond this, Victory will certainly aim to claim as many of the possible six points as possible to secure home-ground advantage in the elimination finals.
Coming from behind to defeat Macarthur 2-1 in round three at AAMI Park, head coach Arthur Diles will be keen to ensure his side does the double over the Bulls in the league.
Round 28 Squad
Melbourne Victory FC Squad: 3. Adama TRAORE, 4. Lachlan JACKSON, 5. Brendan HAMILL, 6. Ryan TEAGUE, 7. Daniel ARZANI, 8. Zinedine MACHACH, 9. Nikolaos VERGOS, 10. Bruno FORNAROLI, 11. Clerismario SANTOS RODRIGUES, 14. Jordi VALADON, 16. Joshua INSERRA, 17. Nishan VELUPILLAY, 18. Fabian MONGE, 19. Jing REEC, 21. Roderick MIRANDA, 22. Joshua RAWLINS, 23. Alexander BADOLATO, 25. Jack DUNCAN, 28. Kasey BOS, 30. Daniel GRASKOSKI
Ins: 3. Adama TRAORE (promoted), 6. Ryan TEAGUE (return from injury), 11. Clerismario SANTOS RODRIGUES, 30. Daniel GRASKOSKI (promoted)
Outs: Mitch LANGERAK (injured), 26. Luka KOLIC (omitted)
Unavailable: Nil
Macarthur FC
Beating out Melbourne Victory at AAMI Park with just one shot on target to lift the Australia Cup back in September, Macarthur FC have since experienced an up-and-down 2024/25 campaign.
Sat relatively comfortably in the top six around the new year, mid-season departures of key players such as Valère Germain and Jed Drew, along with youngsters Ariath Piol and Oliver Jones, has seen the Bulls nose-dive out of Finals contention.
Macarthur currently sit eighth on the ladder, four points away from the top six with just two remaining games.
A four-game undefeated streak has provided the Bulls with a slight hope of clawing their way back into the six, led by star player Marin Jakoliš – who has scored four goals and provided four assists in this run.
