Melbourne Victory vs Sydney FC A-League Preview
Big Blue rivals Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC battle for a place in the A-League semi-finals. Victory have lost just one of the last 11 and are in better shape to progress, with Juan Mata backed to be key.
- BTTS - No has landed in seven of the last nine meetings
- BTTS - No has landed in six of Sydney's last nine games
- BTTS - No has landed in two of Victory's last four games
- Victory have won three of their last four home games vs Sydney
- Sydney have won just three of their last 12 games
- Victory are unbeaten in 10 of their last 11 games
- Juan Mata has registered 13 assists this season, including six in his last eight games
- Juan Mata has registered three assists vs Sydney in as many appearances this season
- Two of Victory's last four wins over Sydney were by a 2-0 score & they beat Wanderers 2-0 last week
Melbourne Victory vs Sydney FC Head To Head
These teams have split the three meetings this season with one win apiece and a draw. Sydney were dominant 3-0 winners in Round 5 courtesy of a Joe Lolley double before Victory returned serve with a 4-0 blitz in Round 14 as Santos bagged a brace and Mata assisted for three goals.
Their Round 20 clash saw Victory take a two-goal lead through a sensational Mata free-kick before Charles Nduka doubled their advantage.
However, Sydney scored two goals in as many minutes midway through the second half to equalise for a 2-2 draw, with Apostolos Stamatelopoulos and Ahmet Arslan getting on the scoresheet.
Melbourne Victory Form - Victory Finish Fourth
Victory finished the regular season in fourth spot on the ladder with a 11-7-8 record and going unbeaten in 10 of their last 11 games.
Arthur Diles' side secured 2-2 draws with Auckland and minor premiers Newcastle before conquering Western Sydney 2-0 last week to lock in a home elimination final.
Santos and Nikos Vergos were on target in the second half as Victory ended the regular campaign on a high, hoping bigger things are to come over the last month.
Crucially, Juan Mata came on for a nine-minute cameo off the bench for his first minutes since injuring his elbow last month.
Sydney FC Form - Consistency Lacking
It was a strange old season for Sydney - they never really hit top gear and ultimately settled for fifth spot and a daunting sudden death Big Blue on the road.
Patrick Kisnorbo took over from Ufuk Talay for the final month of the regular season, but nothing much has changed - Sydney are still performing below par and struggling to put away their chances.
Case in point last week - Sydney twice took the lead over Auckland with goals from Ben Garuccio and Alexandar Popovic as they still had a chance of finishing second and securing a direct semi-final berth.
However, the Sky Blues couldn't put their foot down and were forced to settle for a 2-2 draw, missing out on hosting an elimination final, let alone the top two.