Match preview: Adelaide United v Melbourne Victory

Adelaide United will be given another stern test of their finals credentials when they host original rivals Melbourne Victory at Coopers Stadium on Wednesday night (kick off 7.50pm AEDT).

The Reds are sitting comfortably inside the top six despite winning just one of their last five matches in the Hyundai A-League, including a goalless draw at home against Wellington Phoenix on Saturday.

But they always lift for the visit of fierce rivals Melbourne Victory.

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In fact, Marco Kurz’s side were terribly unlucky when the sides met at Marvel Stadium last month, squandering a number of gilt-edged chances in the 2-0 defeat.

They’ll feel a similar performance, with some more composed finishing, could garner a different result this time around.

Victory remains the form side of the competition, extending their unbeaten run to nine matches with their 2-1 win at Western Sydney on Saturday night.

But it was far from their most fluent display of the campaign.

Kevin Muscat’s side hasn’t been as dominant without injured star Keisuke Honda, with the Japanese import still sidelined with a hamstring injury.

Victory are undefeated in their last nine games (W7, D2); the last time they went longer without defeat was a 10-game stretch from October to December in 2014 (W6, D4).

Key Opta stats

Melbourne Victory have won their last three games against Adelaide United and are undefeated in their last seven games against the Reds in South Australia. However, five of those seven games have ended in draws.
Adelaide United’s next goal will be their 500th overall; however, their 1.09 goals per game against Melbourne Victory are their fewest against any active club in Hyundai A-League history.
The Reds have failed to win any of their last five games on a Wednesday (D3, L2) – their last victory on this day was in Round 14, 2011/12.

Ins and outs

Adelaide United squad: 1.Daniel MARGUŠ (gk), 2.Michael MARRONE, 3.Scott GALLOWAY, 4.Ryan STRAIN, 5.Taylor REGAN, 7.Ryan KITTO, 8.Isaías SÁNCHEZ (c), 10.Ken ILSØ, 11.Craig GOODWIN, 14.George BLACKWOOD, 16.Nathan KONSTANDOPOULOS, 17.Nikola MILEUSNIĆ, 20.Paul IZZO (gk), 22.Michael JAKOBSEN, 23.Jordan ELSEY, 26.Ben HALLORAN, 27.Louis D’ARRIGO, 32.Carlo ARMIENTO

**two to be omitted**

Ins: 16.Nathan KONSTANDOPOULOS (promoted), 27.Louis D’ARRIGO (promoted), 32.Carlo ARMIENTO (promoted)

Outs: 6.Vince LIA (suspended – 1 match)

Unavailable: 9.Baba DIAWARA (knee), 18.Lachlan BROOK (knee), 31.Mirko BOLAND (hamstring), 33.Apostolos STAMATELOPOULOS (quad)

Melbourne Victory squad: 1.Matt ACTON (GK), 2.Storm ROUX, 3.Corey BROWN, 6.Leigh BROXHAM, 7.Kenny ATHIU, 8.Terry ANTONIS, 9.Kosta BARBAROUSES, 10.James TROISI, 11.Ola TOIVONEN, 13.Birkan KIRDAR, 14.Tommy DENG, 15.Raul BAENA, 16.Josh HOPE, 19.Rahmat AKBARI, 20.Lawrence THOMAS (GK), 21.Carl VALERI (C), 24.Elvis KAMSOBA, 25.Anthony LESIOTIS

**two to be omitted**

Ins: 13.Birkan KIRDAR (promoted), 24.Elvis KAMSOBA (promoted), 25.Anthony LESIOTIS (promoted)

Outs: 5.Georg NIEDERMEIER (injured)

Unavailable: Jai INGHAM (quad – TBC), Keisuke HONDA (Hamstring – 4 weeks), Nick ANSELL (Hamstring – TBC), Georg NIEDERMEIER (Calf – TBC)