Melbourne Victory’s finals fate will be in their own hands on Saturday morning as they head to Wellington for the first time to take on the Nix in the final match of the regular season.
The race to the finals has been one of the most entertaining in A-League Women’s history, seeing four sides still in the race to lock in the final positions in the last round of the season.
Victory sits in fourth position locked on 28 points with a two-goal advantage over Canberra United who face third placed Melbourne City, one point ahead of both Canberra and Victory.
Fate will be in Jeff Hopkins side’s hands as they take on Wellington who currently prop the table for the second successive season. Despite being well out of the finals race, the Kiwi side will have something to play for as they look to avoid the wooden spoon in front of a home crowd at Sky Stadium.
Wellington will be coming off a rousing 3-1 win over Adelaide mid-week which puts them in the spot to avoid the spoon with a double from Emily Clegg headlining the result.
Victory is still perfect against the Nix in the competition, recording two wins from two matches, with the latest win coming in December at Epping Stadium. It was Melina Ayres that secured the result on that day and Victory’s top scorer will be looking to back that up this week as she looks to continue her scoring run.
Up the other end, Kiwi international Claudia Bunge will play in her native New Zealand for the first time in the competition and she’ll be looking to continue her impressive form that has seen her called up once again to the Kiwi national side for the upcoming international break.
With a unique Men’s and Women’s double header across the ditch coming up for Victory, the stage is set for the side to keep their dreams of a three-peat alive with an important three points this week.
Recent history against Wellington
2022/23, December 4: Victory 1-0 Wellington
2021/22, February: Wellington 0-2 Victory
Melbourne Victory squad
1.Casey DUMONT, 2. Tiffany ELIADIS, 3.Claudia BUNGE, 5.Jessika NASH, 6.Beattie GOAD, 7.Gema SIMON, 8.Alana MURPHY, 9.Catherine ZIMMERMAN, 11.Natalie TATHEM, 14.Melina AYRES, 15.Amy JACKSON, 16.Paige ZOIS, 17.Maja MARKOVSKI 18.Kayla MORRISON, 19.Lia PRIVITELLI, 20.Miranda TEMPLEMAN, 22.Ava BRIEDIS, 23.Emily KOS, 27.Rosie CURTIS
In: 7.Gema SIMON (promoted), 23.Emily KOS (promoted)
Out: nil
Unavailable: 21.Elise KELLOND-KNIGHT (injured)
