There is always so much on the line in a Melbourne Derby. Bragging rights, competition points and momentum in the Isuzu UTE A-League.
Melbourne City are the reigning premiers and boasting a 100% record through two rounds, while Melbourne Victory are coming off a disappointing loss to Western Sydney Wanderers.
But set to be played in front of a capacity crowd at AAMI Park, Saturday night’s blockbuster instalment has an extra layer, with next month’s FIFA Men’s World Cup looming large.
The 38th edition of the Melbourne Derby is shaping up as a Socceroos audition for eight players across the Victory and City teams.
Graham Arnold must submit his preliminary list of players (a minimum of 35 and a maximum of 55, with the final 26-player roster to be finalised on November 14) for Qatar 2022 by Friday.
City trio Jamie Maclaren, Mathew Leckie and Marco Tilio were part of Arnold’s most recent international squad – last month’s friendlies against New Zealand. Reigning Golden Boot winner Maclaren has enjoyed a red-hot start to the season with three goals in two matches and he has managed to find the back of the net eight times in his last six clashes with Victory.
Leckie has been a threat in City’s attack, while Andrew Nabbout – who was part of the 2018 World Cup in Russia – has also reminded the A-Leagues of his quality early in 2022-23, though Tilio has only amassed 17 minutes of action thus far.
On the other side of the divide, there are four Socceroos hopefuls fighting to force their way onto the plane to Qatar – Victory quartet Nick D’Agostino, Ben Folami, Jake Brimmer and Chris Ikonomidis.
D’Agostino, who hade his Roos debut in World Cup qualifying, has made no secret of his desire to get back into the international fold, already has a goal to his name this term, while 2021-22 Johnny Warren Medallist Brimmer – the only uncapped player among the eight players mentioned – has long been touted as a possible Australia international.
Opta stat: Melbourne Victory are undefeated in their last four A-League Men games against Melbourne City (W1 D3) and will be looking to secure back-to-back wins against them in the competition for the first time since March 2018 after a 3-0 win when they last met.
MATCH DETAILS
Melbourne Victory v Melbourne City
Saturday, October 22 2022
AAMI Park
Kick-off: 7.45pm AEDT
Broadcast: 10 Bold & Paramount+
Odds: Victory $2.85, Draw $3.30, City $2.30
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Can the wounded champions tame the Bulls?
Rewind back to May and Western United were hoisting the Isuzu UTE A-League Championship trophy aloft for the first time in their short history.
That triumph was built on a stingy defence – one that had the second-best defensive record in the A-League Men.
Now fast forward to Round 3 and that strength is fast becoming Western’s Achilles heel after a winless start to 2022-23, with the defending champions reeling on the back of back-to-back defeats to begin the season.
They are just the third reigning champion to lose consecutive games to open an A-League Men campaign; only Brisbane Roar (L4 in 2014-15) have lost more games to start a season as titleholders than Western have this season.
Western have conceded five goals through two rounds amid Leo Lacroix’s unconvincing start to the campaign. To put that into perspective, it took the club seven matches last term to ship the same amount.
While Aleksandar Prijovic remains sidelined, Italian maestro Alessandro Diamanti could make his long-awaited return, though they have lost Mali international Tongo Doumbia to a serious hamstring injury.
And it doesn’t get any easier for John Aloisi’s side, who welcome Dwight Yorke’s Australia Cup champions Macarthur FC to AAMI Park.
The Daniel Arzani show fuelled the Bulls past Adelaide United 2-0 last week to preserve their unbeaten start to the season, while thrusting the fringe Socceroo well and truly back into the World Cup conversation.
Arzani scored a goal and setup another, while he almost scored an incredible free-kick against the Reds. He (one goal and one assist) and Lachlan Rose (one goal and one assist) are two of
only three players to have logged both a goal and an assist this season.
Opta stat: Macarthur have kept two clean sheets in succession in the A-League Men (W1 D1); the last and only previous time they kept more consecutive clean sheets in the competition was a three- game stretch from November to December in 2021 (W3).
MATCH DETAILS
Western United v Macarthur FC
Friday, October 21 2022
AAMI Park
Kick-off: 7.45pm AEDT
Broadcast: Paramount+
Odds: Western $1.94, Draw $3.35, Macarthur $3.60
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Late drama to fuel the Jets in milestone game?
Newcastle Jets had their backs against the wall. Down to 10 men after Jordan Elsey’s red card and with the clocking ticking over to the 94th minute, but Arthur Papas’ team executed the perfect counter-attack to shock Perth Glory at the death.
It was created by substitute Jaushua Sotirio and finished by Georgian forward Beka Mikeltadze, giving the Jets maximum points in their season opener after the F3 Derby was washed out in Round 1.
Now looking forward to Saturday and it will be Newcastle’s 450th ALM match, with the Jets out to avoid becoming the first team to lose 200 games in the history of the competition (including shoot-out results).
Mikeltadze has scored three goals and made two assists in his three career appearances against Wellington Phoenix in the A-League Men; against no other club has me made more goals and assists (five).
As for the Phoenix – who had Yan Sasse’s suspension reduced from three to two games, they have started the season with consecutive – albeit entertaining – draws.
At the centre of those results? Ben Waine. The Phoenix favourite scored the Goal of the Week with his effort against Central Coast Mariners in last week’s 2-2 draw.
Waine has scored three goals across his last four A-League Men appearances including one in each of his last two; in fact, he has scored a goal in each of his last two starts against the Jets in the competition.
Opta stat: Newcastle are on a 16-game goal scoring run at McDonald Jones Stadium in the A-
League Men (W7 D3 L6), the longest in the club’s history in the competition.
MATCH DETAILS
Newcastle Jets v Wellington Phoenix
Saturday, October 22 2022
McDonald Jones Stadium
Kick-off: 5.00pm AEDT
Broadcast: Paramount+
Odds: Jets $1.94, Draw $3.50, Phoenix $3.50
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Soaring Wanderers out to preserve match record
“Our fans came out and they were superb all night and we need to get them back,” that was the message from Marko Rudan after the away bay was sold out for Western Sydney Wanderers’ triumph at Melbourne Victory.
Watching the new-look Wanderers take down Victory in front of such an electric atmosphere only highlighted Rudan’s mission to not just bring finals football back to Western Sydney, but their passionate fanbase after years of pain.
Rudan will be hoping for a strong turnout in Western Sydney on Saturday evening, as the Wanderers look to equal their best start to a season set in the 2019-20 campaign (three consecutive victories).
Calem Nieuwenhof has been the unsung hero for the Wanderers. The midfielder, recruited from cross-town rivals Sydney FC, has won 10 tackles this season – more than any other player in the competition and more than three times as many as any Brisbane Roar player.
The Roar come to town on the back of a disappointing defeat to Melbourne City.
The frustration of that performance could be seen in the latest episode of A-Leagues All Access – focused on their marquee man Charlie Austin.
Central to any Roar improvement could be Rahmat Akbari, who has a passing accuracy of 97% from 31 attempts this season – the highest rate of any player to attempt at least 20 passes.
Opta stat: Brisbane have lost only one of their last eight A-League Men games against Western Sydney (W4 D3) despite trailing at half-time in three of their last five meetings in the competition.
MATCH DETAILS
Western Sydney Wanderers v Brisbane Roar
Saturday, October 22 2022
CommBank Stadium
Kick-off: 5.00pm AEDT
Broadcast: Paramount+
Odds: Wanderers $2.15, Draw $3.20, Roar $3.20
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Sky Blues’ dynamic duo leading the way
Joe Lolley and Robert Mak. They are the international pair driving Sydney FC’s charge back towards the A-League Men finals.
Englishman Lolley and Slovakia international Mak were both on target in last week’s defeat of Western United in Melbourne. The duo are integral to Steve Corica’s plans to bring finals football back to Allianz Stadium after one season in the wilderness.
The Sky Blues will be buoyed by their record against Adelaide United in New South Wales. Sydney have lost only one of their last 10 A-League Men games versus the Reds in
NSW (W6 D3); though, that loss came in their most recent such fixture (April 2022).
That recent fixture was a 3-2 victory for last season’s semi-finalists Adelaide. Carl Veart’s men will now be looking to claim back-to-back wins against the Sky Blues for the first time since April 2015.
But to do that, the Reds – who are without injured pair Zach Clough and Bernardo Oliveira – will have to arrest their winless start to the campaign after a draw and a defeat. This is despite making 94 penalty-area entries in 2022-23 – 25 more than any other team in the competition but they have scored just one goal from within the box this season.
The game is another chance for Reds captain Craig Goodwin to stake his claim for World Cup selection and his form against the Sky Blues makes for pretty reading. He has been directly involved in six goals in his last five ALM games against Sydney (three goals and three assists), including a two-goal and one-assist haul in his last game against them.
Opta stat: Sydney FC have lost their last three ALM games played in New South Wales, conceding at least three goals in each of those games; the last time they endured a longer losing stretch in their home state was a four-game period from December 2013 to January 2014.
MATCH DETAILS
Sydney FC v Adelaide United
Sunday, October 23 2022
Allianz Stadium
Kick-off: 3.00pm AEDT
Broadcast: 10 Bold & Paramount+
Odds: Sydney $1.85, Draw $3.50, Adelaide $3.80
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Guess who’s back, back again?
Garang Kuol. The poster boy of Australian football and Central Coast’s teenage sensation is set to grace the Isuzu UTE A-League for the first time this season.
It’s been a disjointed start to 2022-23 following the announcement of January’s big switch to Premier League outfit Newcastle United. First it was the F3 Derby washout, then it was Young Socceroos duty in Kuwait City – but after missing two rounds of action the Socceroos’ World Cup contender is Back and gunning for minutes against Perth Glory on Sunday afternoon.
Kuol scored four goals in 189 minutes of ALM action last season and all eyes will be on the 18-year-old if he makes it onto the field as the Mariners starlet still dreams of featuring at Qatar 2022.
It’s a dream also shared by team-mate Jason Cummings, who made his Australia debut alongside Kuol in New Zealand last month. Cummings had a Goal of the Season contender ruled out by VAR last week but still produced a moment of brilliance to get on the scoresheet in the Round 2 draw in Wellington.
Cumming has either scored or assisted a goal in six of his eight appearances at Central Coast Stadium in the A-League Men (four goals and two assists), including one goal there against the Perth Glory in February 2022.
Perth head to Gosford without a win through two rounds and they have never lost more than two consecutive fixtures to begin an ALM campaign. Last season’s wooden-spooners had their hearts broken by the Jets last time out, despite all their hard work.
The Glory, however, are undefeated in their last six ALM games against the Mariners at Central Coast Stadium (W4 D2); though, their 23% win rate at the venue is the lowest of any active club in the competition to have played at least five games there.
Opta stat: The Mariners are undefeated in their last four A-League Men games against the Glory (W1 D3); though, each of their last three encounters have ended in a draw on the day.
MATCH DETAILS
Central Coast Mariners v Perth Glory
Sunday, October 23 2022
Central Coast Stadium
Kick-off: 5.00pm AEDT
Broadcast: Paramount+
Odds: Mariners $1.83, Draw $3.50, Glory $3.80
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