Can Wellington get that home record back on track?
Saturday 27th November 6:00pm
It-s part two of a Melbourne double at Westpac Stadium. Grab a ticket today and see if Phoenix can add to Victory-s away day woes.
It-s set to be a Saturday night blockbuster at the ‘Cake Tin- as Phoenix take on a Melbourne Victory side who are travelling to New Zealand looking to halt an ever-increasing run of away games without a win.
Last season-s runners-up have been winless in the last six matches on the road, and their latest away-day disappointment was the most infuriating of all for boss Ernie Merrick, who must be tearing his hair out at his side-s inability to find their form in the Hyundai A-League 2010/11 season.
A match-up with Perth of late has generally been an opportunity for teams to snatch a relatively comfortable three points – Glory had lost nine out of ten before Victory visited – yet Melbourne were completely turned over by their struggling opponents. Robbie Fowler-s hat-trick condemned the Victoria side to a 3-1 humiliation.
The limp performance in Perth summed up both Melbourne-s hit-and-miss season and the way they have generally failed to acquit themselves on the road. Their sixth winless away game equalled an unwanted club record, and the bigger picture shows that they-ve only won once in their last thirteen away matches.
On top of that, their home form isn-t too hot at the moment either, having picked up just one point from the past two home games. Phoenix might just see this as the perfect chance to get back to winning ways at Westpac.
When the two sides met at AAMI Park back in Week 6, Phoenix put their usual away-day woes to one side and came away with a decent 0-0 draw. Generally though, Phoenix-s record against Victory has been poor over the years.
The New Zealanders have only picked up a solitary win against the team in blue, back in the Hyundai A-League 2008/09 season, and otherwise have drawn five times and lost four. Last season, the corresponding fixture ended up as a 1-1 draw, as did one of the games in Melbourne.
The other match-up saw Victory dish out a 4-0 thumping to Phoenix. Even considering Melbourne-s current poor away from, with Wellington having shown sizeable chinks in their armor in recent weeks, the home side won-t necessarily be convinced that they-ll rip up the history books and beat Merrick-s side on Saturday.
Before returning to Wellington for the midweek visit of Melbourne Victory-s next door neighbour, it was back to business as usual on the road for Ricki Herbert-s players.
Having grabbed their first away win in what seems like forever against Perth a couple of weeks back, Phoenix lapsed back to their more familiar away form last weekend with a 1-0 defeat to ever-improving Newcastle Jets.
Still, they-ll be hoping that, seeing how their away form is back to normal, maybe their home form will follow suit and they-ll get back to winning ways this Saturday.
Phoenix fans, Victory have got the better of your team on too many occasions, so it-s high time that you gave them a dose of Yellow Fever. Help make it a sensational Saturday night for your team by singing non-stop from the second you walk through the turnstiles until after the final whistle has blown.
The better the atmosphere, the more inspired your players will be to go out there and reward you with a win. Make some noise and make it happen!
