Melbourne derby will prove the ultimate test of Victory’s revival

The fifth round of the A-League will be a telling one for the competition’s Victorian sides, with the traditional Melbourne Derby spearheading the weekend’s A-League action.

City and Victory face off in a fourth vs second match, with both teams looking to impose their authority in the league as well as earn bragging rights.

Their encounter will be on Saturday evening and Victory come in with revenge on their mind after they were unable to defeat City last season, drawing once and losing twice by humiliating margins of 0-6 and 7-0.

Victory has shaken off last season’s horror show and they will hope that Chris Ikonomidis is fit enough to make an appearance.

“We’ve seen him train the last couple of days with the team which is positive and if he has a full week of training then we can see whether he can be available for the derby,” said Victory manager Tony Popovic post-match last round.

League leaders Macarthur FC clash with Arthur Papas’ Newcastle on Sunday, in what looms as a difficult match for the Bulls after the Novocastrians’ attack ran riot last week with a four-goal triumph over Wellington.

It promises to be a battle between a supreme defence and the league’s top-scoring side. The Bulls are the only unbeaten side in the competition though this has not deterred Jets Captain and former Xanthi player, Matthew Jurman.

“We want to go there and play our football. If we can play as good as we can play, the result will take care of itself,” Jurman said to media.

Western United welcomes tonight (Friday) Adelaide United to its home where they hope to continue their winning streak and make way up the ladder.

The match has lots riding on it for both clubs. The Green and Blacks are on a three-match winning run and will hope they can jump up the ladder if other results go their way.

The Reds are still winless this season despite some promising performances, a fact which has been noted by Western’s coach John Aloisi.

“People think, because they haven’t won, they’re not doing well. But I’ve watched every game of theirs and they’ve been unlucky not to win. They create a lot of chances, they get numbers into the box a lot, so we have to be aware of our defensive structures and what we can do to stop them creating those chances,” said Aloisi said pre-match.

Central Coast clash with Western Sydney in Saturday’s earliest fixture, with both teams looking to create distance from one another as they are separated by a single point.

The Mariners are coming off a great win against Sydney FC while the Wanderers lost twice the previous week, in the FFA Cup to NPL side APIA Leichardt and to Macarthur.

“Last week was a very difficult one for the club. You can either hide away from the fact that it was or you can accept it, learn from it and be better for it,” Western Sydney coach Carl Robinson told media.

Sydney FC collide with Wellington in the round’s final game and it is an opportunity for them to remind the league of their threat.

Pressure is mounting on the Sky Blues who are sitting in an unfamiliar second last position and are still without a league victory this term.

The New Zealanders will be keen to bounce back from their past two consecutive defeats as well as prolonging Sydney’s woes.

Brisbane was set to host Perth Glory on Saturday but that fixture has been postponed after a Perth player tested positive to COVID-19.