Melbourne Victory face Melbourne City in Round 10 of the Ninja A-League on Tuesday, December 23, kick-off 4.30pm AEDT.
Although an ‘away’ fixture, the Girls in Blue will feel right at home with the Christmas Derby taking place at AAMI Park, where they beat Adelaide United 1-0 in Round 7.
Victory backed up this win with another three-point haul on Friday night, putting in a brilliant away performance against a dangerous Newcastle Jets outfit.
The clash with City, 2025’s penultimate match day for the A-League Women’s team, is followed by a quick turnaround to visiting Central Coast Mariners on Saturday, December 27, kick-off 5pm AEDT, at polytec Stadium.
The Girls in Blue
Thanks to three goals and three points, it really was – except for being breached late on – the perfect trip to the Hunter Valley for Jeff Hopkins and his players ahead of the Melbourne Derby.
Like clockwork, American striker Kennedy White got her name on the scoresheet, with her first headed finish for the Club bringing up half a dozen goals in just eight Melbourne Victory games.
Productivity has also been a hallmark of another off-season recruit, Rhianna Pollicina. The former Melbourne City midfielder netted for the fourth time this season, continuing to run her own goal of the season competition, courtesy of a stinging volley.
Victory were then able to flex their strength in depth as the second half went on. Nicki Flannery was introduced from the bench, and just five minutes later, she claimed her first of the season in just her second outing.
The challenge now, after missing the opportunity to do so in November, is turning back-to-back wins into a run of three successive maximums, and what better stage to do it than the 23rd meeting with Melbourne City.
Success over City would pull Victory level on 10 wins apiece in the fixture’s history, and take them 11 points clear of their rivals in the standings – the perfect early Christmas present.
The Victory squad has been dealt a positive boost ahead of the game, with new signing Sienna Saveska named in the squad for the first time since joining the Club in the off-season.
While Saveska is the most recent to remove their name from Victory’s injury list, young midfielder Poppy O’Keeffe is ruled out of Derby action through concussion protocol.
Round 10 squad: 1. Courtney NEWBON, 3. Claudia BUNGE, 5. Sofia SAKALIS, 6. Taylor RAY, 7. Ella O’GRADY, 8. Sienna SAVESKA, 9. Holly FURPHY, 10. Rhianna POLLICINA, 11. Nickoletta FLANNERY, 14. Fiorina IARIA, 16. Kennedy WHITE, 18. Kayla MORRISON, 23. Rachel LOWE, 24. Laura PICKETT, 27. Rosie CURTIS, 30. Payton WOODWARD, 41. Jessica YOUNG, 66. Alana JANCEVSKI, 81. Grace MAHER
Ins: 8. Sienna SAVESKA, 14. Fiorina IARIA
Outs: 20. Leyla HUSSEIN
Unavailable: 4. Chelsea BLISSETT (injured), 17. Poppy O’KEEFFE (concussion protocol), 19. Zoe MCMEEKEN (injured)
On the other side
Melbourne City’s current ranking, on the bottom half of the ladder, is somewhat of a false position despite the 2025/26 effort being nearly two months old.
An early bye, coupled with a schedule adjusted for their AFC Women’s Champions League commitments and the postponement of last week’s hosting of Adelaide United, due to an influenza outbreak in the opposition’s camp, means Michael Matricciani’s team have played just four ALW matches.
From these, they have collected seven points and were unbeaten until a recent trip to Canberra United, when, like Victory, they suffered some capital punishment at the hands of Antoni Jagarinec’s side.
Before this defeat, City had claimed successive home wins over Central Coast Mariners and Wellington Phoenix, the former being a 4-0 rout on the ctrl:cyber Pitch at Casey Fields. This featured two strikes apiece for their joint-top league scorers, Shelby McMahon and Holly McNamara.
There were also goals aplenty in their three Champions League group stage matches, with Lion City Sailors, Stallion Laguna and Hồ Chà Minh City all beaten to nil, as City found the net 15 times without reply to reach the knockouts.
Run it back
Points were shared as Melbourne Victory were pegged back late on when the sides did battle back in February.
The visitors made a flying start at Casey Fields, with midfielder Rachel Lowe pouncing on a lapse in Melbourne City’s defending to sweep Victory into the lead after just five minutes.
This advantage could have been extended in either half, and both Claudia Bunge, attacking a corner, and Emily Gielnik, firing from the angle, were inches away from finding the bottom corner.
City would, however, snatch a draw in the 89th minute when Mariana Speckmaier snuck the ball in from close range.
Last time out
Melbourne Victory navigated both high temperatures and a second-half downpour on the road to inflict Newcastle Jets’ second defeat of the season on Friday night.
The away team opened the scoring after 25 minutes at No.2 Sportsground when Kennedy White glanced in Alana Jancevski’s superb free-kick delivery, and doubled up early in the second half thanks to Rhianna Pollicina’s thumping volley.
Nicki Flannery came off the bench to seal the points with a close-range finish before Lauren Allan snuck a late consolation for the Jets, denying Victory a fourth clean sheet of the campaign.
Melbourne City suffered a first regular-season loss in 651 days away to Canberra United in mid-December.
The game came to life during the second period when Canberra’s American forward Emma Hawkins and the ALW’s record appearance maker Michelle Heyman scored just seven minutes apart ahead of the hour mark.
City started a comeback when Holly McNamara converted from the penalty spot, but it was not backed up as the hosts held on for the win.
