South Melbourne vs Melbourne Victory Verdict
A-League Melbourne Victory take on NPL underdogs South Melbourne in the Australia Cup Final with the favourites backed. South Melbourne can score but until come up short at AAMI Park
- Victory are unbeaten in 13 of their last 15 games in all comps
- Victory have seen BTTS land in 11 of those 15 games
- South Melbourne have scored in 16 of their last 18 games
- BTTS has landed in three of the last five Australia Cup finals
- Victory have a 2-1 record in Australia Cup finals
- NPL sides have gone 0-2 in Australia Cup finals
Head To Head
This will be the first competitive meeting between the two teams.
South Melbourne Form
It's been a brilliant run to a first Australia Cup final for South Melbourne.
The Hellas knocked out three-time champions Adelaide United in the R32 before surviving Fremantle City on penalties after a thrilling 3-3 draw at the end of 90 minutes.
Sinisa Cohadzic's side then knocked out the in-form Preston Lions with a come-from-behind 2-1 victory before dismantling Queensland Lions 3-1 in the semi-finals.
South Melbourne also finished the NPL Victoria regular season in fifth position after 13 wins from 26 games. They beat Heidelberg 2-1 in the elimination finals before falling to Oakleigh Cannons.
South Sudanese striker Bul Juach was the star in the 3-1 semi-final win over the Lions, coming off the bench to score a sensational second-half hat-trick.
Juach also featured for Heidelberg in last year's Australia Cup final and is a strong chance to come into the starting side here.
Melbourne Victory Form
In a competition where lots of A-League sides slumped to early eliminations, Victory held firm and now they've been rewarded with a chance to secure a third Australia Cup trophy.
Victory began their campaign with a dominant 4-0 win over Kingsborough Lions before edging out the Western Sydney Wanderers on penalties.
Giovanni Savarese's side then overcame a gallant APIA Leichhardt side 1-0 in extra-time before producing a statement performance to defeat Big Blue rivals Sydney FC 2-0 in the semi-finals.
Victory were also in action in the AFC Champions League 2 in their last competitive outing, earning a 1-1 draw away to Vietnamese side Viettel on the 16th of September.
Harry Sawyer was formerly with South Melbourne and was on target in the quarter-final win over APIA.
However, Sawyer might have to be content with coming off the bench, with Charles Nduka likely to start up front, with Clarismario Santos and Keegan Jelacic providing support on the flanks.
German central defender Philipp Ziereis has big game experience following prior stints with the likes of St Pauli and LASK Linz and should partner former Luton Town and Welsh international Tom Lockyer at the back.