Saturday, October 17, 2015, 7.30pm AEDT, Etihad Stadium, watch on Fox Sports
Table position
Melbourne Victory: Seventh
Melbourne City: Fourth
Season record
Melbourne Victory: 0-1-0
Melbourne City: 0-1-0
ALL eyes will be on Etihad Stadium in Melbourne on Saturday night as two home town clubs go head to head in a battle for early A-League season bragging rights.
Both the Melbourne Victory ($1.91 with CrownBet.com.au) and Melbourne City ($4 with sportsbet.com.au) (Draw is $3.50 with CrownBet.com.au) are hunting their first win of the season after their round one games ended in stalemates.
sportsbet.com.au’s Christian Jantzen reports all of the money has come for the the reigning A-League premiers in the derby.
“There’s twice as much invested on the Victory compared to City,” Jantzen said.
“In fact, there’s been more money on the draw in the past 24 hours than there has been on Melbourne City.
“City have been big drifters from $3.60 out to $4.”
Jantzen said while both teams had draws and only scored one goal between them, the money on the over/under 2.5 goal market showed punters were expecting a shoot out.
“Sportsbet punters are expecting a high scoring affair with the over 2.5 goals receiving 30 per cent more money than the unders,” he said.
“The most popular scoreline is 2-1 Melbourne Victory.
“Besart Berisha is the best backed in the first goalscorer market at $4.50 and it’s all Victory in that market with Fahid Ben Kalfallah and Gui Finkler the next most popular.”
Injury hit City will be buoyed by its ability to go to Sydney and steal away a point, 1-1, without a full strength side.
Young buck Wade Dekker banged in his first goal in the big leagues to give City the lead, but the Sky Blues new marquee man, striker Filip Holosko, got his A-League career off to the perfect start with the equaliser.
Former Premier League goal keeper Thomas Sorenson was a monster for City, almost single handedly preserving the point thanks to a string if fine saves as Sydney pressed for a winner in the second half.
While he didn’t get on the park, City defender Michael Zullo said games against Victory were as big as a final.
“Everyone at the club is looking forward to this weekend, it’s a massive game for us as a club and as players it’s something we look forward to,” Zullo said.
“It’s a game I really want to be a part of and I want to play in
“All three games against Victory are probably the biggest apart from the finals so for us, the focus is on winning on Saturday because that could be a massive step forward for our season.
“We know Victory were the best team in the league last year and they’re probably still the most dangerous side in the league so far, so they will be pretty hard to deal with.
“But if we want to be among the best clubs in Australia, we have to beat the strongest teams as well and as champions, everyone is out to get Victory this year and I’m really excited to test ourselves as a team and as a unit against the best attacking team in the league.”
Zullo looks set to make his season debut, along with Ollyroo Stefan Mauk and Aaron Mooy, who could be the game breaker in this one.
They will be hurt, though, but a serious injury to gun defender Ivan Franjic and will be without young striker Corey Gameiro and star Harry Novillo.
Meanwhile, the Victory looked set to steal all three points against Adelaide United, after striking the post, crossbar and a trio of uncharacteristic mistakes by star striker Berisha in front of goal, but were cruelly denied by the dubious decision to hand Leigh Broxham a second yellow card, reducing them to 10 men.
They then had to be resolute as United pressed, but managed a share of the points in the end.
Similarly to City’s shot stopper, Victory goal keeper Danny Vukovic was a wall for the Victory.
He will play in his 229th match in the derby, breaking the A-League record.
The Victory are set to welcome back captain Carl Valeri for the local grudge match, and almost has a full strength squad to play with, with only the injured Nick Ansell and Archie Thompson and Broxham unavailable.
“To captain this club is fantastic,“ Valeri said.
”We’ve got 25,000 plus members, which is honestly outstanding and there are a lot of leaders in the team, both young and old, which helps me.
“We’re going to miss Broxie because he is a big leader in this team and a player I love playing with.
“It’s a special week, the derby.
“There is a little extra buzz in the air and everyone talks about it, it’s great to see.
”We just need to stay focused on the job at hand and not let our emotions take control of the game and that is something we have been very good at in the past.”
A-League Melbourne derby betting predictions
Match result: Melbourne Victory wins ($1.91 with CrownBet.com.au)
Correct score: Melbourne Victory wins 3-0 ($15 with CrownBet.com.au)
Total match goals: over 2.5 goals ($1.63 with CrownBet.com.au)
We thought about tipping City after its spritely effort against Sydney on the weekend, but then we looked at the Victory line up. On paper, it is just too good. All it lacked on the weekend was some decent finishing and it might have been two or three nil on the road to Adelaide. Sure, City scored in Sydney, but they were absolutely tonguing by the end of it. Victory and Melbourne City last met in last year’s finals series, when Victory prevailed 3-0 in front of over 50,000 fans at Etihad Stadium, putting them into a grand final that they won. The stakes aren’t nearly as high here, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see a similar result. City has made some strong signings in the off season, chiefly Sorenson, but it needs Mooy to fire if it is to have any chance here. Berisha, Ben Kalfallah and Finkler lead a star studded line that will take some stopping. Franjic is a massive out for City. It leaves them vulnerable and the above firepower has more than enough skill to take advantage.
First goal scorer tips
Melbourne Victory
Fahid Ben Kalfallah ($8 with Sportsbet.com.au)
Berisha might have a case of the early season yips, so we’re staying away from his very short odds. Ben Kalfallah is a maestro from wide positions and has the ability to cut deep into the heart of defences. City’s is under strength and will have its hands full with Berisha, giving Ben Kalfallah the perfect opportunity to get on the board first.
Melbourne City
Aaron Mooy ($12 with sportsbet.com.au)
City’s golden boy Mooy will be a welcome return to the squad and, while it does have attacking talent, this guy is their talisman. When he plays, everything goes through him and, after seven goals last season, he will be looking to get forward as often as he can. As good as any one for first goal in this one.
