Sunday in the A-Leagues: City rivals face off in winner takes all Elimination Final

It’s a huge day in the Isuzu UTE A-League as fierce rivals Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City square off at AAMI Park in a winner takes all Elimination Final.

Tune in throughout the day as aleagues.com.au provides a one-stop-shop for all the goals and
match highlights in the Isuzu UTE A-League.

With Sydney FC safely through to the Semi-Finals after dispatching Macarthur FC 4-0, attention now turns to AAMI Park where Victory and City go head-to-head to secure a spot in the last four of the Finals Series.

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MATCHDAY AGENDA

5:00pm AEST: Melbourne Victory v Melbourne City – AAMI Park

It’s already one of the most hotly anticipated games on the Isuzu UTE A-League calendar but throw in the fact it’s an Elimination Final and this afternoon’s Melbourne Derby just got even bigger.

Today’s clash at AAMI Park will see Melbourne Victory and rivals Melbourne City go head-to-head in an Isuzu UTE A-League finals game for the first time since 2015.

This will be the fourth Melbourne Derby of the season, with Victory having reigned supreme in the previous meeting 2-1 last month following back-to-back goalless draws.

Coming off a 4-3 loss to Western Sydney Wanderers, Victory are back in the finals having missed out last term. They reached the Semi-Finals in 2021-22 before falling to eventual champions Western United.

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As for three-time reigning premiers City, they secured a top-six berth by the skin of their teeth.

Western Sydney’s wild win over Victory had them temporarily ahead of City in the race for a finals spot last week. However, Aurelio Vidmar’s men managed to see off Western United in the final round.

It could also potentially be a farewell for Jamie Maclaren and Curtis Good, with the record-breaking pair to leave City at the end of the season.

MATCH CENTRE: Click here for stats, updates, videos and more!

FORM LINE (LAST FIVE GAMES)

  • Melbourne Victory: L – D – L – W – W
  • Melbourne City: W – W – W – L – L

POSITION

  • Melbourne Victory: 3rd
  • Melbourne City: 6th

OPTA FACTS

  • Melbourne Victory will be looking to win back-to-back games against Melbourne City in the A-League Men for the first time since March 2018 after picking up a 2-1 win in their last clash (Round 23, 2023-24) and are unbeaten in their last three games against them (W1 D2).
  • This will be the second meeting between Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City in the A-League Men finals after the Victory won 3-0 in the 2014-15 Elimination Finals; though, overall, the Victory have lost two of their last three finals games (losing 3-10 on aggregate) and City have won only one of their last four (D1 L2).
  • Melbourne City have won their last three games in a row in the A-League Men, conceding just one goal across that frame; the last time they won more consecutive games in the competition was a four-game streak from March to April in 2022 which was ended by a 3-0 loss to the Melbourne Victory.
  • Melbourne Victory have trailed at half-time only three times this season, the fewest of any team in the competition, and have lost only one of those three games (D2), while Melbourne City have lost three of their five games when they’ve been behind at the break (W1 D1).
  • Melbourne City have made more shots than they’ve faced in seven of their last nine A-League Men games after being outshot in four of their previous seven games in the competition; though, they’ve been outshot by more than 10 goals in each of their last two games against the Melbourne Victory and haven’t outshot them since 18 February 2023.