Western Sydney Wanderers made a dream start to life back at Wanderland in Round 1 but will face a stern test when they take on Melbourne Victory at Marvel Stadium on Friday night.
An inspired performance from skipper Mitch Duke ensured Markus Babbel’s side opened the season with a 2-1 home win over Central Coast Mariners last weekend but it could be their away form which determines their fortunes in 2019/20.
Victory drew a blank in their season opener, playing out a 0-0 draw in the Melbourne derby against Melbourne City last Saturday night.
But Victory – under new boss Marco Kurz – showed some encouraging signs and are rarely kept goalless two games in a row.
WANDERERS: Babbel welcomes winds of change to all-new Wanderland
VICTORY: Kurz admits lack of cutting edge cost Victory in Melbourne Derby
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Friday, 18 October 2019
Kick-off: 7.30pm AEDT
Venue: Marvel Stadium
Broadcast: FOX Sports 505
Stream: My Football App, Kayo Sports
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Team news
Melbourne Victory squad: 2.Storm ROUX, 3.Corey BROWN, 4.James DONACHIE, 6.Leigh BROXHAM, 7.Kenny ATHIU, 8.Jakob POULSEN, 9.Andrew NABBOUT, 11.Ola TOIVONEN (c), 14.Thomas DENG, 16.Josh HOPE, 17.Elvis KAMSOBA, 18.Migjen BASHA, 19.Ben CARRIGAN, 20.Lawrence THOMAS (gk), 21.Adama TRAORE, 22.Kristijan DOBRAS, 24.Anthony LESIOTIS, 25.Brandon LAUTON, 26.Jay BARNETT, 30.Matthew SUTTON (gk) **2-4 to be omitted**
Ins: 7.Kenny ATHIU (returned from international duty), 26.Jay BARNETT (promoted)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 1.Matt ACTON (shoulder), 5.Tim HOOGLAND (quadriceps – 6 weeks), 10.Robbie KRUSE (hamstring), 13.Birkan KIRDAR (international duty)
Western Sydney Wanderers: 1.Daniel LOPAR (gk), 4.Dylan McGOWAN, 5.Daniel GEORGIEVSKI, 6.Matthew JURMAN, 7.Mitchell DUKE (c), 13.Tass MOURDOUKOUTAS, 14.Alex MEIER, 16.Mathieu CORDIER, 17.Keanu BACCUS, 19.Pirmin SCHWEGLER, 22.Nicholas SULLIVAN, 23.Kosta GROZOS, 27.Kwame YEBOAH, 28.Fabian MONGE, 29.Daniel WILMERING, 31.Noah PAGDEN, 33.Tate RUSSELL, 35.Mohamed ADAM, 37.Jake TREW, 40.Nicholas SUMAN (gk) **2-4 to be omitted**
Ins: 27.Kwame YEBOAH (returns from injury), 28.Fabian MONGE (promoted), 31.Noah PADGEN (promoted), 33.Tate RUSSELL (returns from international duty)
Outs: 21.Tarek ELRICH (hamstring)
Unavailable: 10.Radoslaw MAJEWKSI (knee – indefinite)
Did you know?
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Tass Mourdoukoutas (Western Sydney Wanderers) made 11 clearances in the first round of this A-League campaign, the joint-most of any player and more than twice that of any Melbourne Victory player.
- Western Sydney Wanderers (+0.2) were one of only two teams (also Perth Glory) to outperform their Expected Goals (1.8) in the opening round of the 2019/20 A-League season.
- Melbourne Victory are undefeated in their last five A-League games at Marvel Stadium (W3, D2); the last time they went longer without loss at the venue was a 12-game spread from April 2014 to February 2016 (W10, D2).
