Adelaide United vs Melbourne Victory: Round 10 Preview

The Melbourne Victory have their backs up against the wall as they prepare to play current front-runner Adelaide United in Hindmarsh Stadium tomorrow night.

The last time these two met, Melbourne went to 10 men but still managed to come away with a win. In the five matches after that, however, the Victory’s fortunes have dropped. After teetering at the top of the table for the last few weeks, Melbourne finally dropped from first last week.

In contrast, Adelaide United are riding high after topping the A-League and reaching the final of the Asian Champions League. Despite the extra matches, they’ve only sacrificed two points in the last four rounds.

We already knew Melbourne would miss Archie Thompson and Ney Fabiano tomorrow, but Carlos Hernández’ injury (which could keep him out for a month) further diminishes Ernie Merrick’s attacking options. Now would be a perfect time for Nathan Elasi to make his A-League debut… but he’s away on Young Socceroos duty. Instead, Matthew Theodore has been called up from the youth team to potentially make an appearance off the bench.

Adelaide aren’t without their injury problems, with both Eugene Galekovic and Paul Reid unavailable. But they have a squad with depth which has been tried and tested over the past month. And so far, weariness has not made them skip a beat.

My tips for the weekend:

• Adelaide United to lose to Melbourne Victory. Backs against the wall or not, I still feel obliged to believe we can do it. And we certainly can. Perth Glory almost beat Adelaide last week, but gave it away in the last ten minutes.
• Sydney FC to draw with Central Coast Mariners. Two sides coming off a win, I can’t pick a winner between these two.
• Newcastle Jets to beat Queensland Roar. This is an important game for both sides, with Queensland perched on the edge of the top 4 and Newcastle fighting to stay in the race. Newcastle need the win, and I think they’ll get it.
• Perth Glory to beat Wellington Phoenix. They’re 7th and 8th, both beaten last week, but recent form has seen an improvement for both sides. I’m picking a Perth win.