Melbourne Victory take on Brisbane Roar in Round 6 of the Isuzu UTE A-League on Friday, November 28, kick-off 7:35pm AEDT.
Their second of three straight away fixtures, either side of trips to Sydney and Macarthur, takes Victory to Queensland for a matchup with the competition’s fifth-place team at Suncorp Stadium.
Arthur Diles’ side will be determined to beat the Roar, after recent losses against Sydney FC and Melbourne City froze the feel-good factor generated following a 0-2 win at Perth Glory.
The Boys in Blue
Friday night’s clash is a chance to arrest Melbourne Victory’s current form and end a winless run in Queensland for the Men’s First Team, which stretches back to a 0-1 win in October 2019.
A repeat of this, three points and a clean sheet, would be the perfect tonic to recent results. It was possible though, with the scores level approaching the hour mark last weekend, that Victory would take down Sydney FC until the Sky Blues went clear during the closing exchanges.
The outcome aside, Louis D’Arrigo tracked his first competitive minutes since joining during the off-season, as he builds toward a start, whilst the Captain, Roderick Miranda, completed a second full 90 in a row.
It is hoped that last term’s Golden Boot winner, Nishan Velupillay, will make his return from an injury absence that has delayed the start of his campaign. Young gun Oliver Dragicevic is also back in the squad.
And despite drawing a blank in successive rounds, 26 shots recorded in two matches, either side of the international break, indicate that Victory are not too far away from a torrent of goals accompanying their promising build-up play.
Keegan Jelacic, having netted on the road to Newcastle Jets and Perth Glory, will have extra motivation to strike against the team he represented when on loan from Gent last season.
Round 6 Squad: 2. Jason DAVIDSON, 3. Adama TRAORE, 4. Lachlan JACKSON, 8. Jordi VALADON, 9. Nikolaos VERGOS, 10. Denis GENREAU, 11. Clerismario SANTOS RODRIGUES, 14. Matthew GRIMALDI, 15. Sebastian ESPOSITO, 16. Joshua INSERRA, 17. Nishan VELUPILLAY, 19. Jing REEC, 21. Roderick MIRANDA, 22. Joshua RAWLINS, 23. Keegan JELACIC, 25. Jack DUNCAN, 27. Louis D’ARRIGO, 29. Oliver DRAGICEVIC, 40. Jack WARSHAWSKY, 64. Juan MATA
Ins: 3. Adama TRAORE, 17. Nishan VELUPILLAY, 29 Oliver DRAGICEVIC
Outs: N/A
Unavailable: 5. Brendan HAMILL (long-term injury)
The Roar
Building blocks for Brisbane Roar’s 2025/26 season were being laid as soon as the previous campaign ended, with new boss Michael Valkanis installed just a handful of days after the club finished second last on the ladder.
The 51-year-old head coach, most recently in charge of Turkish side Adana Demirspor, was swiftly assisted by active recruitment as they bid to end four straight years of missing out on Finals.
Notably, the Roar secured the services of English frontman Chris Long and signed former Western United forward Michael Ruhs. But it is another striker, Justin Vidic, who has led the attacking effort, scoring on trips to New Zealand versus Wellington Phoenix and Auckland FC.
Joining him at the top of their scoring charts is captain Jay O’Shea. The long-serving midfielder, who joined in 2019, bagged the only goal of their Round 1 success against Macarthur from the penalty spot before again converting from 12 yards during a 3-0 win over Newcastle Jets.
These triumphs, combined with a goalless draw when hosting Melbourne City, mean Brisbane are unbeaten on their own patch so far – a stark contrast to the infamous 410-day wait for a home win, which only ended in April.
Valkanis’ team also boast the competition’s best defensive record, having recorded a hat-trick of clean sheets and being breached on just three occasions.
Run it back
Melbourne Victory struck late to take a point away at Brisbane Roar in March, extending their unbeaten run to three matches.
Henry Hore’s 20th-minute finish, fired home at the near post, had the hosts on course for a surprise home win as they battled hard at the bottom of the standings.
But Victory refused to give up, and when Ryan Teague’s long-distance shot deflected into the penalty area, full-back Kasey Bos showed tremendous awareness to follow the ball’s path and force an equaliser at the death.
Last time out
It was a tough night for Melbourne Victory in New South Wales, with the visitors going down 3-0 at Leichhardt Oval.
Arthur Diles’ men peppered the Sydney FC goal, particularly during the first 45, with both Jason Davidson and Denis Genreau stinging the palms of goalkeeper Harrison Devenish-Meares.
The second half, however, would determine the destination of the Big Blue bragging rights. Joe Lolley struck twice in the space of 12 minutes to give Sydney the advantage, and as Victory searched for a route back into the contest, including seeing a Nikos Vergos effort ruled offside, Alex Grant headed in a third for the Sky Blues.
Brisbane Roar continued their solid start to the campaign as they fought back to claim a point away to Auckland FC.
The defending Premiers led after 18 minutes thanks to a superb Lachlan Brook free kick, which proved too powerful for the best efforts of a full-stretch Michael Woud.
But Auckland did not look convincing holding the lead. They failed to heed the warning signs when Michael Ruhs smashed the crossbar from close range, and the Roar claimed their share of the points when Justin Vidic levelled smartly in first-half injury-time.
