Hoping for a Cup eve Victory
This season the league has introduced a Melbourne Cup eve fixture into the mix, a great move by all involved. Melbourne Victory are playing some better football over the past two weeks under Ange Postecoglu but find themselves in a very unusual position stranded to the bottom of the table. Wellington will be without Ben Sigmund and travelling, so don’t expect miracles. The plucky phoenix team suffered their first loss last week and if they don’t come to play Monday night it could be back to back defeats. Victory fans will also get the chance to publicly farewell Championship striker Danny Allsopp who recently retired so if you are a football fan in Melbourne get to the game Monday night.
Monday Night 19:30 AEST Etihad Stadium
Formline – Victory LOSS WIN LOSS Phoenix DRAW DRAW LOSS
Head to Head Victory 7 wins 6 draws Phoenix 2 wins
Newcomer Gaz Lording looks at Melbourne Victory and their chance in the Trans Tasman Melbourne Cup clash (@themaestro1018)
Last 5 clashes: Victory 3, Phoenix 1, Drawn 1
Who to watch out for:
Melbourne: Marcos Flores
The emphatic play-maker is about to play is 4th game with the club and is gradually finding his once spectacular form when he played with Adelaide. If fans are willing to be patient, the rewards will be invaluable. Has been solid with good passes so far, but the impact has been little.
Wellington: Michael Boxall
An early call for one of the best defenders at the club, Micheal’s ability to read the play at a high standard (especially in the game against the Heart), and to have a plentiful amount of stamina throughout 90 minutes is proof why Herbert required a player of his type.. He deserves more game time throughout the season and (barring injury) he could be a winner of the First Year’s player award at the Phoenix.
Honesty piece: As this is a match on Melbourne Cup eve (kids day off school Monday & Tuesday, public holiday for most people who work), this kind of day would have been more suited to the Melbourne Heart where they can reap the benefits of getting 15k and make a few offers along the way (e.g. half price entry with pre-purchased Cup ticket). Not to say Etihad won’t get the same with 18k members at the Victory of whom most would turn up given the incentive of next day off, but it just feels as though AAMI Park is wasted for such a magnificent two days of sport in Melbourne
Overall Summary: Once again like this time last season, we find Phoenix in the top 6 of the ladder compared to Melbourne’s placing in the bottom half (this time, bottom). And because it is early days, Melbourne are able to jump on top over them given they win the game as there is only 4 points separating 3rd from 10th. Should they win this Wellington, it will be their first ever Home and away season win in Melbourne because the last 11 occasions have delivered squat for the men in yellow.. But given Melbourne’s ability to bounce back from losses quite well & taking into account track record at Etihad is realistically better then Heart’s record at AAMI Park.
My Prediction: Melbourne 2-0
Cam Gordon looks at his Wellington Phoenix (@Cambo_Gordon)
Round five already!!!
This week the Phoenix travel to Melbourne to take on the Victory who sit at the bottom of the A-League table. The game will present the Nix with a good opportunity to get to winning ways after last week’s controversial loss to Adelaide in which defender Ben Sigmund was sent off and as a result will miss Monday’s game.
Why the Phoenix can win?
Although Ben Sigmund will be a huge loss to the Nix, they have already shown this season that they have depth, something that has been lacking in previous seasons. This was on display the last time the Nix were in Melbourne taking on the Heart without a number of their starting line-up who were away with the All Whites.
Last week’s loss was the first of the season for Wellington and it could easily be argued that the result was more than influenced by the man with the whistle. So they will head into this match with a strong motivation to grab the points they will feel were taken from them last week.
If the Phoenix can keep their emotions under control and play the patience game they will be presented with goal scoring opportunities from a shaky Victory defence that has already conceded ten goals in just four rounds.
Look for a strong game from Captain Andrew Durante who will be working hard to make up for the loss of his usual defensive partner Sigmund.
Why they could lose?
After last week’s loss to Adelaide it could be easy for the traditional travelling doubts to creep into the minds of the Phoenix players. A second away loss in a row could see the Nix find it tough to shake that travelling sickness title.
After four rounds the Melbourne Victory are sitting at the bottom of the table but they are a much better team than their position would suggest. One gets the feeling that sooner rather than later they are going to hit their stride and cause problems for their opponents. They always tend to play well at home in front of their passionate fans and this was shown in their round three upset of the table topping Adelaide, their only points of the season.
If the Victory score first they could be spurred on by their home fans and go on to claim their second win of the season.
Prediction
This game will see Leo Bertos and Manny Muscat both play their 100th match for the Phoenix which will provide the team with a huge incentive to go out there and get the job done. Melbourne appears to still be finding their feet this season under new coach Ange Postecoglou and although their defence appears to be improving, the Phoenix possess too many solid attacking options that should be too much for the Victory to handle.
Phoenix to get the win 0-2.
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