For the first time in Liberty A-League history, a Melbourne Derby occupies the Finals Series schedule.
The stakes have never been higher between these two great rivals – and with a spot in the Grand Final on the line, expect both sides to leave everything on the line with no second chance on offer for the defeated.
City’s catastrophic loss to Sydney FC in last weekend’s Semi-Final leaves Rado Vidosic’s side devoid of two key players through suspension this weekend, whilst Victory’s attacking stocks are bolstered by the return of a young Matildas star and the injury-free spearhead looking to make up for lost time.
Your weekend Liberty A-League preview brings you everything you need to know ahead of an unmissable Preliminary Final, including team news, the tale of the tape and all the talking points heading into week two of the post-season.
THE FIXTURE
Melbourne City v Melbourne Victory
Sunday, March 20 2022
AAMI Park
Kick-off: 4.05pm AEDT
Broadcast: Paramount+, Network 10
MATCH CENTRE | BUY TICKETS | HOW TO WATCH
WHAT’S AT STAKE?
The winner of this Preliminary Final bout will proceed to the Grand Final on Sunday, March 27 where Sydney FC await.
If City win, it will be a repeat of the 2019-20 Grand Final which the Victorian outfit won 1-0. If Victory progress it will be the rematch of last season’s title decider, which Victory won by the same scoreline.
HOW TO WATCH
The Preliminary Final will be LIVE and FREE on 10BOLD, as well as streaming LIVE on Paramount+.
Attention Samsung users – we have great news: Paramount+ is officially available across all compatible Samsung devices.
WATCH: All the games, all the action on Paramount+
TALKING POINTS
‘I’m still trying to get back to where I was’: Stott’s return to professional football still a work in progress ahead of game 100
Rebekah Stott’s journey back to the professional game after recovering from cancer has been one of the stories of the 2021/22 Liberty A-League season.
The physical and mental fortitude displayed from the New Zealand international to return to action both at club level and for the Football Ferns is nothing short of heroic; in the process Stott became Melbourne City’s all-time appearance record holder, and on Sunday afternoon the 28-year-old will reach another special milestone: her 100th game in the Liberty A-League.
Stott made her debut at Brisbane Roar, moving to Melbourne Victory for 25 games before joining City for the club’s inaugural season in the Liberty A-League.
74 appearances later and Stott is a City legend, with game number 100 set to come against Victory in Sunday afternoon’s Preliminary Final, with the winner set to face Sydney FC in the Grand Final next weekend.
Speaking to club media, Stott said there have been plenty of special moments along the ride at City – with the ability to play alongside friends amongst the highlights of her City stay.
“I think the first season, the invincible season, that was just really special,” Stott said.
“Playing with Steph (Catley) for a good couple of years was a really big highlight. “She’s one of my best friends and it was so fun with her, we’d always have a great time on the field and in training.
“I’ve had the chance to play with a lot of my really good friends which has been great.
“Now to have the opportunity a few years later to have some success with a new team is just pretty special.”
Barbieri, Vlajnic leave holes in City squad – who comes in to fill them?
It’s the juggling act undoubtedly occupying the thoughts of Melbourne City head coach Vidosic this week as he looks to fill the significant void left by both goalkeeper Melissa Barbieri and wingback Tyla-Jay Vlajnic, who were both sent off in City’s Semi-Final loss to Sydney last weekend.
City were in the box seat to progress to the Grand Final as they led the Sky Blues 2-0 with less than 20 minutes to play – but a devastating second-half display from Cortnee Vine inspired the Sydney resurgence, with the Premiers winning 4-2 after 30 minutes of additional time in a stunning, surging comeback.
Amongst the wreckage of City’s defeat were the two dismissals.
There’s an obvious replacement in between the sticks for Barbieri, and that’s Young Matildas keeper Sally James. The 19-year-old arrived at City from Canberra United in the off-season; with Matildas custodian Teagan Micah departing the club after winning the league’s Goalkeeper of the Year award in 2020-21, there were some big gloves left for James to fill.
But a thumb injury on the eve of the new campaign sidelined James for enough time for Barbieri to claim the role of City’s no.1 as her own. The 42-year-old never looked back, becoming one of the stories of the season and surpassing the 25th-year anniversary of her debut in the professional game (as an outfield player) in the process.
Speaking after the Sydney defeat, Vidosic rued the loss of Barbieri for the Preliminary Final.
“Hopefully, tonight won’t be her last match and she can play in the Grand Final – I think we owe her that,” he said. “She is very distressed but we can’t question her decision (that led to the red card).
“She had been unbelievable for us on and off the pitch.”
Meanwhile, the top two candidates to take Vlajnic’s spot in the City XI are Chelsea Blissett and Marisa van der Meer.
City have had 10 players register 12 or more appearances this season, with Holly McNamara – a sure starter before her season-ending ACL injury – registering eight.
Below those 11 players there’s a significant drop-off. Leticia McKenna has made four starts as the next highest, with Blissett one of two players with three.
Blissett has a combined 12 appearances this season both as a substitute and starter, and has spent the majority of her time on the park operating up and down the left flank, and looms the likeliest replacement for Vlajnic in the City side.
Van der Meer is another option for Vidosic, but has operated solely down the right flank this season – a position Kaitlyn Torpey has well and truly made her own.
Key stat: Blissett’s pure left foot provides City an offensive weapon with the defender on corner duties from the right side of the pitch whenever she’s on the pitch.
90.7% of her 331 touches this season have come purely up and down the left flank, with just 5.7% coming from central areas.
The remaining 3.6% of her touches have all come in the top-right corner of the pitch, through 12 corner routines – one of which resulting in a Winonah Heatley goal against Wellington in January.
Melina Ayres’ long road ahead to track down Dowie record
She’s injury free and back amongst the goals for Victory – and what a crucial time to be hitting form for Melina Ayres, who will look to strike her side to consecutive Liberty A-League Grand Finals this weekend.
Ayres was sidelined for all but one fixture in the regular season with a hamstring injury, after ending last season as Victory’s top scorer with eight goals.
Last weekend the Victory spearhead made her first start of the season, and bagged the all-important winner in a 2-1 Semi-Final triumph over the fancied Adelaide United, setting up a mouth-watering Melbourne Derby clash with City in the Preliminary Final this Sunday.
It was Ayres’ 15th goal in Victory colours, scored through the five seasons which followed her initial A-League Women’s stint at cross-town rivals City.
Goal number 15 gave Ayres sole ownership of second spot on Victory’s all-time list of scorers, behind club legend Natasha Dowie who blasted 34 goals through five memorable seasons of her own at the club.
The 22-year-old’s return from injury is a blessing for head coach Jeff Hopkins, with his side hindered by injuries and suspensions to key players through a testing season for the reigning champions.
With Ayres back in the mix against a City side missing wingback Vlajnic and first-choice goalkeeper Barbieri, Hopkins will hope his star striker can be the difference in consecutive games – and begin that long climb toward Dowie’s imperious club scoring record.
Speaking to club media after her all-important strike against Adelaide last weekend, Ayres said: “It’s been along road back from injury.
“It’s a bit of a bonus to even play, to be honest so to come back and help the girls and the team get into the (Preliminary) Finals, it’s unreal.”
Key stat: Ayres has the best shot accuracy (66.7%) of any of Victory’s attacking players this season, having played just 84 minutes of game time.
THE X-FACTOR
MELBOURNE CITY – HANNAH WILKINSON
The City striker had a disrupted end to the regular season, travelling to the United States on international duty with New Zealand in February.
Since returning to Liberty A-League action in early March, her form has been frightening. The 29-year-old has scored in each of her last four City appearances, bagging a brace in last weekend’s loss to Sydney.
Wilkinson has scored 14 goals in 13 games in her debut season in the league. The Football Ferns striker is a menace in and around the box, and will make Victory pay should they switch off defensively for the briefest of moments on Sunday afternoon.
MELBOURNE VICTORY – LIA PRIVITELLI
Talk about saving your best for last: Lia Privitelli was a player possessed against Adelaide last time out, enjoying season-high output in a number of attacking categories.
Privitelli hadn’t created a single chance in her eight prior appearances for Victory; last weekend she crafted four – an equal-season best – and notched one assist with a perfect delivery off the right flank for Ayres to finish.
The 27-year-old scored a goal of her own – her fourth for the season and first in five games – taking four shots on goal, the same amount managed in her nine prior games combined.
To have an impact in a Finals fixture, it’s necessary to play out of your skin. If Privitelli’s performance last weekend is anything to go by, expect fireworks once again from the attacking midfielder.
FORM LINE (last five games)
- Melbourne City: L-W-W-L-W
- Melbourne Victory: W-D-L-D-L
Victory’s five-game winless run came to an end last weekend at the most crucial of times, to extend their campaign by at least one game.
City, meanwhile, ended their two-game winning run with the club’s first ever loss in a Finals Series fixture.
HEAD-TO-HEAD THIS SEASON
Melbourne City 1-2 Melbourne Victory
AAMI Park, December 12 2021
Goals to Lynn Williams and Catherine Zimmerman helped Victory to a 2-1 Melbourne Derby win in the second weekend of Liberty A-League action.
It was a day to forget for Victory’s Amy Jackson, who scored an own goal and received a red card in her side’s slender win. This was the game following captain Kayla Morrison’s season-ending ACL injury, which left Victory devoid of stock in central defence; Jackson filled the void, but her dismissal deep into the second half ended the defensive experiment.
Melbourne Victory 1-5 Melbourne City
AAMI Park, December 26
City’s Boxing Day mauling of Victory was an occasion belonging to striker Wilkinson, whose five-goal haul equalled the Liberty A-League record of goals scored by an individual in a single fixture.
Former Perth Glory and Matildas forward Kate Gill was the previously sole owner of the record – she was sat in the stands as Wilkinson went to work, scoring her hat-trick inside 26 minutes before adding two more goals onto the board in the second 45.
Maja Markovski scored a consolation goal for Victory in the 84th minute.
A good omen for Victory: The ‘away’ side won on the two occasions these two sides met in the regular season.
FINAL VERDICT
If anything is to be taken from last weekend, it’s to never write off the Victory.
After travelling to Adelaide and stunning the Reds, Victory midfielder Privitelli said her side was ‘made for finals’, and that was clear in their approach to the game, willing to risk anything to keep their season alive.
A fit-again Ayres and the return of Cooney-Cross give the fourth-place finishers plenty of attacking firepower – and with City spearhead Wilkinson purring after her Semi-Final brace, this could be a high-scoring affair at AAMI Park.
This one is too tight to call – perhaps a penalty shoot-out will be needed to separate these two teams after additional extra time.
