Melbourne Victory Men prepare to take on the Newcastle Jets on Saturday, February 8.
Off the back of a 2-0 win in Perth, Victory will remain on the road and travel across to Northern New South Wales for an important fixture.
Victory and the Jets have enjoyed many great clashes over the years, with Victory slightly ahead in the historical head-to-head wins between the two sides.
Melbourne Victory:
A second-straight 2-0 win has seen Victory jump from momentarily out of the top six to third in the Isuzu Ute A-League ladder.
Victory’s resolute defensive performance was led by Mitch Langerak between the sticks, helping the side to their sixth clean sheet of the season – the tied second-most in the league.
Speedy wingers Nishan Velupillay and Santos both got their names on the scoresheet for the Navy Blues after keeping their starting positions in the side – a repayment to the faith shown by head coach, Arthur Diles.
Coming into Round 18, Victory will be without defender Joshua Inserra – who will be away on international duty with the Young Socceroos in their AFC U20 Asian Cup campaign.
Round 18 Squad:
Melbourne Victory FC Squad: 1. Mitch LANGERAK, 3. Adama TRAORE, 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, 17. Nishan VELUPILLAY, 18. Fabian MONGE, 19. Jing REEC, 21. Roderick MIRANDA, 22. Joshua RAWLINS, 25. Jack DUNCAN, 26. Luka KOLIC, 27. Reno PISCOPO, 28. Kasey BOS, 34. Kayne RAZMOVSKI
Ins: 19. Jing REEC (promoted), 26. Luka KOLIC, 34. Kayne RAZMOVSKI
Outs:
Unavailable: Joshua INSERRA (international duty)
Newcastle Jets:
Currently sat 11th on the ladder and winless at home, the Newcastle Jets have not had the ideal 2024/25 campaign so far.
Leading 2-1 at McDonald Jones Stadium against Sydney FC and Perth Glory this season, the Jets copped late equalisers in both games to settle for just two points out of a possible six.
However, the mood will be raised for the Novocastrians after a come-from-behind 2-2 draw in the F3 Derby last Saturday night.
Young attacker Ben Gibson has been a standout for the Jets in his first professional season – notching four goals and assists respectively; while former Victory attacker Eli Adams has been impressive for his new club since joining in the off-season.
