MVFC Blog

We’re well and truly into the tail end of the season, with just nine rounds of the regular season remaining. The Melbourne Victory sits perched on 6th spot, while their opponent, the Queensland Roar, enjoy a flattering position in 2nd place. But such is the tightness of the league that a win for Melbourne could push them into the top 4 and see the Roar drop a spot (or two).

It goes without saying that it’s a critical game for both teams.

Queensland hasn’t lost a game since it went down 2 – 0 to the Victory at the Telstra Dome in round 6. It was the following round that Frank Farina introduced youngster Michael Zullo and Robbie Kruse, whose energy and skill have seen the team as a whole lift. As a measure of their success, Zullo has been called up to the Olyroos squad for Saturday night’s match with Iraq, while Kruse is on stand-by.

Zullo won’t be the only player missing the match. Danny Tiatto is also unlikely to make an appearance thanks to a persistent groin strain. That leaves Farina with a weakened midfield.

Melbourne, of course, have similar problems. They go into the match without Kevin Muscat, who is suspended after picking up 4 yellow cards, and Leigh Broxham, who is also in the Olyroos squad. But Ernie Merrick will be very happy to have Rodrigo Vargas back in the team after his 2-match suspension was reduced to just one earlier this week. Steve Pantelidis also returns, thanks to another reduced suspension. (To the FFA: Do you suppose you could just give fairer suspensions in the first place, rather than forcing clubs to go through with the waste-of-time appeal process?)

With Muscat and Broxham out, and Vargas and Pantelidis back, I expect few other changes to the line-up of last week. Sebastian Ryall is available, but Steven Pace has delivered such rock-solid performances over the past fortnight that it’s extremely unlikely he’ll lose his spot in central defense. Daniel Vasilevski is another player who has been very impressive in the last two matches and has earned himself a spot in the starting lineup. That undoubtedly means another bench start for Adrian Caceres, unless Merrick opts to leave Leandro out instead.

Over the past few rounds, we have enjoyed the best football Melbourne has played so far this season. Hernandez is emerging into great form and is delivering the kind of service our strikers need to score goals. The finishing has been perhaps the most disappointing feature of the Victory’s play, as many excellent chances have been missed. Let’s hope Archie Thompson and Danny Allsopp start hitting the back of the net tomorrow night.

My tip: Queensland Roar 1, Melbourne Victory 2

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