Melbourne Victory Women visit Adelaide United in Round 13 of the Ninja A-League on Saturday, January 17, kick-off 4:50pm AEDT.
The fixture is the first 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.
Jeff Hopkins’ visitors are seeking a return to winning ways when they travel to South Australia, having lost out to Brisbane Roar at the Home of the Matildas last Sunday afternoon.
Victory, in front of an AAMI Park crowd, were 1-0 winners in 2025/26’s previous meeting, thanks to Rachel Lowe’s second-half goal.
The Girls in Blue
Melbourne Victory, currently in fourth position, will be determined to strengthen their position in the top six this weekend after defeat to Brisbane Roar condensed the ladder in the early stages of 2026.
Playing for the first time in just over a fortnight, the hosts were unable to pick up the flowing forward play that had made an improbable comeback possible away to the Central Coast Mariners.
The single-goal defeat in Bundoora was only the second time this term that the Women’s team have failed to find the net, with the other occasion being November’s narrow loss at Wellington Phoenix.
Victory flipped this scoreline to beat Adelaide United when they visited Victoria last time, and the head-to-head record suggests another win for the Girls in Blue is a strong possibility in South Australia on Saturday evening.
Of the 32 previous meetings, an impressive 24 have been won by Victory, including nine of the last 10 face-offs.
Round 13 squad: 1. Courtney NEWBON, 3. Claudia BUNGE, 4. Chelsea BLISSETT, 5. Sofia SAKALIS, 6. Taylor RAY, 7. Ella O’GRADY, 8. Sienna SAVESKA, 9. Holly FURPHY, 10. Rhianna POLLICINA, 16. Kennedy WHITE, 17. Poppy O’KEEFFE, 18. Kayla MORRISON, 23. Rachel LOWE, 24. Laura PICKETT, 27. Rosie CURTIS, 28. Sienna TECHERA, 30. Payton WOODWARD, 41. Jessica YOUNG, 66. Alana JANCEVSKI
Ins: 28. Sienna TECHERA
Outs: 14. Fiorina Iaria (omitted), 20. Leyla HUSSEIN (omitted)
Unavailable: 11. Nicki FLANNERY (leg), 19. Zoe MCMEEKEN (injured), 81. Grace MAHER (foot)
Review of the Reds
Adelaide United, led by Theo Tsiounis since the start of the campaign, are eyeing up a fourth unbeaten outing when they step out at Coopers Stadium for the second time this month.
The Reds recorded home wins over Western Sydney Wanderers and Central Coast Mariners either side of the New Year before earning a point away to Sydney FC last Friday.
Against the Wanderers, there was a brace for leading scorer Erin Healy in a 5-2 triumph that emphatically ended a three-game losing streak that included their loss to Melbourne Victory.
They made it back-to-back successes when the Mariners came to town at the start of January, with Emily Condon – the ALW’s eighth-youngest appearance maker – scoring for the second time in her 11th season of competition to claim the points.
Unfortunately, the goal tap had run dry five days later, resulting in a goalless draw away to Sydney at Leichhardt Oval.
Run it back
Melbourne Victory returned to the top of the Ninja A-League Women’s table courtesy of a home win over Adelaide United in the middle of December.
Rachel Lowe’s 50th-minute finish, her first of the season and third in two meetings with the Reds, was the ideal finishing touch to Holly Furphy’s pass.
Both Furphy and introduction Nicki Flannery, from a header, had chances to extend the lead, but one goal proved enough to retain the Original Rivalry bragging rights.
Last time out
Melbourne Victory Women were edged by Brisbane Roar for the second time this term in Round 12.
Daisy Brown’s close-range finish, approaching the hour mark, was the difference at the Home of the Matildas in a game of few clear-cut chances for either side, and it took a fine corner delivery from Marianna Seidl to lay on the match-winning moment.
Victory’s brightest moment came as they hunted an equaliser, but Kennedy White was unable to apply the finish to Rhianna Pollicina’s perfectly-measured through ball.
A marginal referee call denied Adelaide United a third-straight win as the points were shared with Sydney FC.
The Reds appeared to have broken the deadlock midway through the second 45, but Erin Healy was adjudged to have illegally outmuscled Willa Pearson before firing in.
Sydney substitute Riley Tanner had their best chance, hitting the underside of the crossbar during her impressive cameo off the bench.
