The Isuzu UTE A-League finals series ramps up this week, with Western United and Melbourne Victory going head-to-head in the semi-final first leg at AAMI Park on Tuesday before Melbourne City face Adelaide United on Wednesday.
THE SEMI-FINAL AGENDA
Western United v Melbourne Victory
Tuesday, May 17 2022
AAMI Park
Kick-off: 7.05pm AEST
Broadcast: 10 Bold, Paramount+
BUY TICKETS
Adelaide United v Melbourne City
Wednesday, May 18 2022
Coopers Stadium
Kick-off: 7.05pm AEST
Broadcast: 10 Bold, Paramount+
BUY TICKETS
THE FINALS FORMAT
ADELAIDE UNITED V MELBOURNE CITY
There is no rest for the wicked as Adelaide United attempt to take down the league’s top dog, Melbourne City, starting Wednesday.
Adelaide extended their winning streak to six games and reached the semi-finals thanks to Sunday’s 3-1 win over Central Coast Mariners in the Elimination Final at Coopers Stadium.
The Reds won’t have much time to recover as they prepare for a midweek first-leg clash with defending champions and minor premiers City at Coopers Stadium in Adelaide.
City’s stars are rested, having watched the first week of the finals after clinching the Premiers Plate in the final round of the regular season.
They’ll enter a cauldron in Adelaide, where more than 10,000 fans helped will the Reds over the line against the Mariners.
KEY STATS
- Adelaide United have lost only one of their last seven A-League Men games against Melbourne City (W3, D3) and will be looking to log back-to-back wins against them for the first time since April 2016 after picking up a 2-1 win in their last encounter (15 February 2022).
- Adelaide are undefeated in their last five ALM games against City in South Australia (W3, D2); although, each of their last two such encounters have ended in 2-all draw on the day after the Reds had trailed 1-0 at the half-time break.
- Adelaide will face City in the ALM finals for the third time and the first since 2019; the Reds have won each of their two previous post-season games against City including a 1-0 extra-time win in their last such encounter (5 May 2019).
- The Reds have won their last five straight A-League Men games at Coopers Stadium, their longest winning streak at the venue since a run of seven games from August to December in 2010; furthermore, the Reds have won their last three A-League Men finals games at the venue.
- City were defeated 2-0 by Perth Glory in their last game outside Victoria (4 May 2022), snapping a six-game winning streak in such fixtures; in fact, City have lost four of their last six finals games in the competition outside their home state (W2).
- Adelaide have conceded 32 goals this season, 9.7 fewer than their opposition’s cumulative Expected Goals across the campaign (41.7), no team has performed better in this regard in the 2021-22 campaign.
- City have made 3.9 passes per sequence in the 2021-22 ALM season, the most of any team in the competition and have made 14 sequences of 10+ passes per game, also the most of any team and five per game more than Adelaide (nine).
- Adelaide have scored more game-tying (six) and go-ahead (five) goals in the 81st minute or later of games this season than any other team in the competition; only Melbourne Victory (four) have conceded more game-tying goals in this time than City (three).
- Reds captain Craig Goodwin has been directly involved in six goals in his last five ALM games (three goals, three assists); however, he’s not scored a goal in his last six games against City – his second-longest active goalless streak against any team (eight games v Perth Glory).
- Golden Boot winner and City star Jamie Maclaren has scored four game-tying goals this season, more than any other player in the competition; Maclaren has scored eight goals in his last eight A-League Men games against Adelaide, including five in his last four games against them.
FORM LINE (LAST FIVE GAMES)
Adelaide United: W – W – W – W – W
The Reds train rolls on and into a meeting with Melbourne City. During Adelaide’s six-game winning streak, they haven’t struggled to find the back of the net. In their past five outings, they’ve scored at least two goals in each, finishing with 12 goals while keeping two clean sheets and conceding just four.
Melbourne City: W – L – L – W – W
Melbourne City’s last five games are focused on the ALM, having travelled to Asia for their inaugural AFC Champions League campaign, which ended despite an unbeaten group phase. Patrick Kisnorbo’s side returned to a blip, a shock loss to lowly Perth Glory delaying their Premiership success. That left City with back-to-back defeats on the domestic front, though Kisnorbo will be hoping their regular-season ending win over Wellington Phoenix will boost the squad.
HEAD-TO-HEAD THIS SEASON
Adelaide United 2-2 Melbourne City
November 27, 2021. Coopers Stadium.
Adelaide dramatically scored two late goals to snatch a 2-2 draw with City in their opening fixture of the season. Jamie Maclaren and Andrew Nabbout had the visitors on track for a second consecutive victory to open their title defence. However, Stefan Mauk and Ben Halloran – who have both since departed – scored in the final 15 minutes in a thrilling encounter.
Adelaide United 2-2 Melbourne City
January 15, 2022. Coopers Stadium.
Hiroshi Ibusuki enjoyed a dream debut as Adelaide and City shared the spoils again in another thriller. The towering Japanese striker came off the bench to equalise with six minutes remaining after Adelaide had missed a penalty. Andrew Nabbout and George Blackwood traded goals before Jamie Maclaren restored City’s lead in the 66th minute. City defender Nuno Reis was sent off and Adelaide eventually capitalised during the closing stages.
Melbourne City 1-2 Adelaide United
February 15, 2022. AAMI Park.
A run of back-to-back draws came to an end in February, Adelaide leaving Melbourne with maximum points. Mohamed Toure was the hero for the visiting Reds at AAMI Park, where his 85th-minute winner proved the difference after Jamie Maclaren and Craig Goodwin had scored for their respective teams.
TIP
This fixture never disappoints, especially this season. If there’s one thing that is almost guaranteed, it’s goals and a draw. City’s form has been patchy, so they’ll be happy to take a draw back to Melbourne for the second leg.
WESTERN UNITED V MELBOURNE VICTORY
Melbourne Victory are rested as they gear up for a showdown with Victorian rivals Western United.
Victory come into the opening leg of Tuesday’s semi-final on the back of a week off and the league’s most in-form team amid a club-record 15-game unbeaten streak. Tony Popovic’s Victory were pipped to the Premiers Plate by a solitary point.
Their semi-final opponents – the highest-ranked Elimination Final winner – Western edged Wellington Phoenix 1-0 on Saturday, with another clean sheet further highlighting their defensive strength.
Western have won more games 1-0 in a season than any club in Isuzu UTE A-League history. They recorded their seventh against Wellington at AAMI Park.
CLICK HERE TO BUY YOUR TICKETS TO WESTERN V VICTORY
John Aloisi’s Western return to AAMI Park, this time trying to halt the momentum of Popovic’s resurgent Victory.
KEY STATS
- Melbourne Victory are undefeated in their last four A-League Men games against Western United (W3,D1) and have never lost against them at AAMI Park in the competition (W2, D2); this will be the first post-season meeting between the two teams.
- Western are undefeated in their last six ALM games at AAMI Park (W4, D2) while Victory have not lost in their last eight games at the venue (W4, D4); in fact, Western’s last defeat at the venue came at the hands of the Victory (3-1, 26 December 2021).
- Victory are undefeated in their last 15 straight ALM games (W9, D6); only twice in the history of the competition has any team gone longer without a loss (Brisbane Roar FC – 36 games from 2010 to 2011; Sydney FC – 20 games from 2016 to 2017).
- Western (67% – W2, L1) and Victory (63% – W15, D2, L7) have the two best win rates in A-League Men finals games of any teams in the competition, with the Victory’s 15 post-season wins more than any other team in the competition’s history.
- Victory (20) and Western (19) have scored the opening goal of the game on more occasions in the 2021-22 season than any other teams, boasting nearly identical records from those fixtures (Victory – W13, D6, L1 and Western – W13, D5, L1).
- Western (51%) are one of only two teams with a shooting accuracy of 50% or higher in the 2021-22 ALM season (Central Coast Mariners – 51%), with their current rate the best of their three seasons in the competition.
- Victory have had 12 unique goal scorers in the ALM this season, their most in a single campaign since 2013-14 when they had 12; in fact, they’ve had 10 players score two or more goals this season – only once in ALM history has any team had more (Perth Glory – 11 in 2009-10).
- Western goalkeeper Jamie Young has made the most saves (101) and has the highest save percentage (77%) of any goalkeeper (min. 10 games played) this season and has prevented five goals thus far (30 goals conceded, 35 xGOT).
- Victory star Jake Brimmer has been directly involved in five goals across his last four ALM appearances (three goals, two assists) and has scored one goal and made two assists across his last four games against Western.
- Melbourne Victory duo Marco Rojas (16) and Ben Folami (13) have made more take-ons in the opposition box than any other players in the 2021-22 ALM season; Connor Pain (10) is the only Western player to have made more than four.
FORM LINE (LAST FIVE GAMES)
Western United: W – L – D – L – W
Western ended the regular season winless in three matches, with two defeats and a draw ruining their Premiership bid. But Western kept their campaign alive, staving off elimination against Wellington to set up a clash with Victory.
Melbourne Victory: W – W – D – W – W
Can anyone stop Victory? Not since February have Victory tasted defeat. Last season’s wooden spooners have scored 14 goals in their past five matches, including four in a Big Blue rout of rivals Sydney FC. They are the team to beat in this season’s finals.
CLICK HERE TO BUY YOUR TICKETS TO WESTERN V VICTORY
HEAD-TO-HEAD THIS SEASON
Western United 0-1 Melbourne Victory
November 20, 2021. GMHBA Stadium.
Stand-in captain Roderick Miranda was the unlikely hero in Geelong, where the Popovic era kicked off with three points in the opening round. Miranda headed home in the 76th minute before Western skipper Alesssandro Diamanti was denied a penalty six minutes later.
Melbourne Victory 3-1 Western United
December 26, 2021. AAMI Park.
Two goals in the space of two first-half minutes fuelled Victory’s win over Western in Melbourne. The Boxing Day clash saw Jason Geria and Josh Brillante find the back of the net in the 18th and 19th minutes. Aleksandar Prijovic pulled a goal back in the closing stages, however Nick D’Agostino sealed the win in stoppage time to send Victory top of the table.
Melbourne Victory 1-1 Western United
March 23, 2022. AAMI Park.
The points were shared in March after Brendan Hamill came to Victory’s rescue five minutes from the end of proceedings. Veteran defender Nikolai Topor-Stanley had opened the scoring two minutes into the second half and just as Western were heading towards a win, Victory centre-back Hamill equalised in the 85th minute.
TIP
Form and history are against Western United. Since Western edged a seven-goal thriller in February last year, Victory have not lost to their Victorian rivals. During that time, Victory have won three of the past four fixtures, including a 6-1 rout last season. Victory are also eyeing a 16th game without defeat. Both teams have shown this season they’re hard to score against, though Victory will have far too much firepower to contain at AAMI Park in game one.
