The Melbourne derby takes place in Australia this weekend, with Melbourne City taking on rivals Melbourne Victory. With both teams currently sitting in play-off positions in the A-League standings, many are expecting a close encounter at the Rectangular Stadium, with meetings between the duo regularly providing fireworks.
Australian A-League – Melbourne City v Melbourne Victory – Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, Melbourne – Saturday 23rd December 2017 – 09:50 UK Time
|
Draw Best Odd of: 21/10 at Ladbrokes |
|
Melbourne City
Melbourne VictoryMatch Preview
Melbourne City FC take on city rivals Melbourne Victory in the Australian A-League on Saturday morning, with six points currently separating the duo in the standings. Neither side have been able to find any form of consistency at the start of the campaign, making this a hugely difficult match to predict. Managers Warren Joyce and Kevin Muscat will go head-to-head this weekend, with the du looking to get one over on each other tactically. For those still unsure of who to back with the bookmakers, be sure to check out our top betting tip below. However, let’s first take a closer look at the two teams, starting with the home side.
Melbourne City Team News & Form
The home side come into this clash off the back of a 3-1 away defeat at league leaders Sydney FC, there fourth defeat of the campaign already. However, six wins for Melbourne City mean that they still sit third in the table, despite having scored just 13 goals from their 11 matches. The departure of Tim Cahill is certainly not good news for manager Joyce, who is now lacking in attacking options ahead of kick-off this weekend. Argentine duo Marcelo Carrusca and Fernando Brandan are among their biggest threats in the final third now, while Luke Brattan is set to feature once more, with the midfielder currently on-loan from Premier League leaders Manchester City.
Melbourne Victory Team News & Form
Melbourne Victory produced one of their best performances of the season so far to beat Perth Glory on the road last time around, with manager Muscat undoubtedly looking for his team to put together a run of positive results heading into the new year. However, having won just three times all season, they will perhaps make the short journey this weekend more in hope than expectation. Attacker Besart Berisha is likely to pose the biggest threat to the City defence, with the 32-year-old having signed a new contract this week.
Head to Head
The two teams have met 24 times in the past, with Melbourne Victory having won 10 of such meetings, as well as registering five draws. However, Melbourne City earned six points from their rivals in last season’s two meetings, which included a 2-1 home success.
Melbourne City v Melbourne Victory – Betting Odds and Predictions
Given their standing in the table and their status as the home side, it comes as little surprise that it is Melbourne City who are the firm favourites to claim all three points with the bookmakers. Those looking to back the home side for victory can take advantage of odds of 28/17 with Ladbrokes, while the hosts are available at odds of 13/8 with William Hill.
Top Betting Tip Melbourne City v Melbourne Victory
However, our top betting tip for the match is to bet on both teams to score during the 90 minutes, which is available at odds 3/4 ahead of kick-off at William Hill.