Melbourne Victory visit Adelaide United in Round 13 of the Isuzu UTE A-League on Saturday, January 17, kick-off 7:35pm AEDT.
The fixture is part two of an A-League Women’s and Men’s double header between Victory and the Reds at Coopers Stadium, with the fourth annual Pride Cup in play for both of the matches.
Back in December, Victory took the bragging rights at AAMI Park, which kick-started a streak of four consecutive wins in Melbourne.
They now travel to Coopers Stadium, eager to start another run, after being pipped on home turf by Western Sydney Wanderers on Saturday.
The Boys in Blue
Melbourne Victory’s winning run was halted by Western Sydney Wanderers last weekend; now their first chance to get a new one going comes against the opponent where the previous one started.
Arthur Diles’ team were winless in four before Adelaide United headed to AAMI Park, but ran out deserved 2-1 winners thanks to, for a second game in a row versus the Reds, a Nikos Vergos double.
The feel-good factor took further flight when Melbourne City were defeated just before Christmas, a result that was backed up by a 5-1 thumping of Wellington Phoenix and a 3-2 success over Perth Glory at the beginning of 2026.
Unfortunately, this fine form ended at the hands of Western Sydney, but the Saturday evening clash was not without positives for the home team.
Reno Piscopo made his return from injury as a second-half substitute, whilst there were A-League debuts for goalkeeper Jack Warshawsky and defender Kayne Razmovski on the occasion of his 21st birthday. The former was composed between the sticks and produced an instinctive save to deny the visitors a second goal on the counterattack.
Victory will be without Jason Davidson for the trip to South Australia, following the defender’s fifth yellow card of the season against the Wanderers, which triggered a one-game suspension.
Round 13 Squad: 3. Adama TRAORE, 4. Lachlan JACKSON, 7. Reno PISCOPO, 9. Nikolaos VERGOS, 10. Denis GENREAU, 11. Clerismario SANTOS RODRIGUES, 14. Matthew GRIMALDI, 15. Sebastian ESPOSITO, 16. Joshua INSERRA, 17. Nishan VELUPILLAY, 18. Franco LINO, 19. Jing REEC, 23. Keegan JELACIC, 24. Emre SAGLAM, 25. Jack DUNCAN, 27. Louis D’ARRIGO, 28. Kayne RAZMOVSKI, 29. Oliver DRAGICEVIC, 40. Jack WARSHAWSKY, 64. Juan MATA
Ins: 18. Franco LINO
Outs: 2. Jason DAVIDSON (suspended)
Unavailable: 5. Brendan HAMILL (injured), 8. Jordi VALADON (international duty), 21. Roderick MIRANDA (injured), 22. Joshua RAWLINS (international duty)
Adelaide’s adventures
Adelaide United will be striving for better consistency of results in the second half of the 2025/26 Isuzu UTE A-League season, starting by claiming a first three points of the New Year.
Unfortunately, for the Reds, they now face an opponent in Melbourne Victory who they have beaten just once in the last nine meetings.
In another world, they would be preparing for the Original Rivalry buoyed by three points. But they let slip a two-goal half-time lead away to Wellington Phoenix in Round 12, being left to settle for a point.
This setback followed a day to forget at Coopers Stadium at the start of January, when they conceded three times during the first half in a 0-4 defeat to Central Coast Mariners.
Airton Andrioli’s side had ended 2025 by claiming back-to-back wins, triumphing at Perth Glory thanks to a Craig Goodwin goal before Jonny Yull’s injury-time winner completed a 3-2 home success over Western Sydney Wanderers.
Run it back
Nikos Vergos opened his account for the season to inspire Melbourne Victory to a 2-1 win against Adelaide United in December.
The Greek striker scored in the 24th and 46th minutes for the hosts, giving Arthur Diles’ side an unassailable lead at AAMI Park.
Dylan Pierias netted a consolation for United during the closing stages.
Last time out
A cagey affair between Melbourne Victory and Western Sydney Wanderers went the way of the visitors last Saturday evening.
Kosta Barbarouses’ first-half penalty, converted after Santos was penalised for a handball at a corner, split the two sides at AAMI Park.
Victory’s Brazilian attacker went close to exacting revenge after the interval, striking the outside of the post.
The points were shared in windy conditions at Sky Stadium, as Wellington Phoenix hosted Adelaide United.
United led by two at half-time, thanks to finishes from Ryan White and Luke Dozel.
However, they would be pegged back during the second 45, with Isaac Hughes and Corban Piper on target to pull the Phoenix level.
