Melbourne Victory is looking to continue its good record against the Western Sydney Wanderers when the teams meet at Marvel Stadium on Friday.
Summary
Victory has won its past five meetings with the Wanderers, while it is unbeaten in their previous 11 clashes.
Western Sydney visits a Victory team which opened its Hyundai A-League campaign with a tight 0-0 draw against rival City in Round 1.
Elvis Kamsoba, who produced an energetic performance, had the ball in the back of the net during the second half, but it was ruled out for offside by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR).
Victory kept its first clean sheet at home in the Hyundai A-League since December 2018 as its back four of Storm Roux, James Donachie, Thomas Deng, Adama Traore and goalkeeper Lawrence Thomas held firm against City.
Donachie and Traore could make milestone appearances against the Wanderers, with both in line to feature for the 50th time in the Hyundai A-League for Victory.
Victory also had three debutants against City, with Jakob Poulsen, Kristijan Dobras and Migjen Basha playing their first games for the club.
The Wanderers encounter is Victory’s second home game of four in the opening five rounds of the season.
Western Sydney opened its campaign with a 2-1 victory over the Central Coast Mariners.
Player in focus
What they said
“We played well, but we didn’t have some detail, but it’s normal, it’s only the first game. We’re going to work better, to fix the details and I think we need only to score and the rest we can do everything because we have good players and we are a good team and I think we can do a positive championship.” – Victory midfielder Migjen Basha.
Last time
Hyundai A-League 2018/19 Round 27
Western Sydney Wanderers 0-1 Melbourne Victory
Saturday, April 27, 2019
ANZ Stadium, Sydney
Ola Toivonen’s first-half goal was enough for Victory to claim three points against the Wanderers in the final round of last season.
The star striker powered in a brilliant header after a Deng cross from the right for the game’s only goal.
As it stands
Head to head
Round 27, 2018/19: Wanderers 0-1 Victory at ANZ Stadium
Round 11, 2018/19: Wanderers 1-2 Victory at ANZ Stadium
Round 6, 2018/19: Victory 4-0 Wanderers at Marvel Stadium
Round 25, 2017/18: Victory 3-1 Wanderers at AAMI Park
Round 17, 2017/18: Wanderers 0-3 Victory at ANZ Stadium
Match details
Melbourne Victory v Western Sydney Wanderers
Marvel Stadium, Melbourne
Friday, October 18, 2019
Kick-off: 7.30pm AEDT
Melbourne Victory squad: 2.Storm ROUX, 3.Corey BROWN, 4.James DONACHIE, 6.Leigh BROXHAM, 7.Kenny ATHIU, 8.Jakob POULSEN, 9.Andrew NABBOUT, 11.Ola TOIVONEN (c), 14.Thomas DENG, 16.Josh HOPE, 17.Elvis KAMSOBA, 18.Migjen BASHA, 19.Ben CARRIGAN, 20.Lawrence THOMAS (gk), 21.Adama TRAORE, 22.Kristijan DOBRAS, 24.Anthony LESIOTIS, 25.Brandon LAUTON, 26.Jay BARNETT, 30.Matthew SUTTON (gk)
**2-4 to be omitted**
Ins: 7.Kenny ATHIU (returned from international duty), 26.Jay BARNETT (promoted)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 1.Matt ACTON (shoulder), 5.Tim HOOGLAND (quadriceps – 6 weeks), 10.Robbie KRUSE (hamstring), 13.Birkan KIRDAR (international duty)
