Melbourne Victory (2) v Sydney FC (1)

Another big-city derby but this time it should be Melbourne on top

TEAM NEWS

Melbourne have more issues than just the Grand Final to deal with – on Tuesday they play in Japan against Kawasaki frontale in what is really a must-win third Asian Champions League match.

After losing both their opening matches, Victory coach Ernie Merrick must be tossing up, possibly rotating his squad but all his public proclamations thus far have indicated that he’ll choose his strongest 11 for the Grand Final.

That means no place for long-term injury absentees Billy Celeski and Matthew Kemp but with doubts concerning Tom Pondeljak, he may be rested. Aside from that pair and the suspended Nik Mrdja, Merrick will have a full deck of cards available with only Pondeljak’s potential replacement in midfield up for discussion – with Costa Rican Marvin Angulo the most obvious choice.

Sydney FC coach Vitezslav Lavicka has made it clear all week that he won’t risk any players who are less than 100% fit – meaning Shannon Cole who is still struggling after a hamstring strain picked up on Socceroo duty three weeks ago and the club’s marquee man, John Aloisi (an early casualty last weekend) will both likely miss out although Cole is still a slight possibility to line-up at right-back.

That in addition to the talismanic Steve Corica as well as defenders Rhyan Grant, Matt Jurman and midfielder Kofi Danning mean Sydney are definitely low on playing stocks but the good news is that, after coming on for Aloisi last weekend, 19 year old Chris Payne was ultra-impressive in scoring 2 goals and should be set for a start here.

The only other concern for Lavicka is whether to draft in the experienced Hayden Foxe, now he’s fully fit, or stick with Australian youth international Sebastian Ryall at right-back in place of Cole – with Ryall seemingly the preferred option.

Melbourne Victory

Suspended: Nik Mrdja (one match)

Doubtful: Tom Pondeljak (hamstring)

Injured/Unavailable: Billy Celeski (knee), Matthew Kemp (knee)

Sydney FC

Suspended: None

Doubtful: Shannon Cole (hamstring)

Injured/Unavailable: John Aloisi (hamstring), Steve Corica (hamstring), Kofi Danning (knee), Rhyan Grant (knee), Matthew Jurman (foot)

MATCH PREVIEW

With both sides already qualified for the 2011 Asian Champions League, there is not as much at stake as there could have otherwise been and the temptation must be there for Melbourne to have at least one eye on Tuesday’s decisive ACL clash with Kawasaki.

The Victory have to board a plane to Japan at 1am the morning after this match finishes so should the contest go to extra-time and penalties, it could be a mad dash to the airport for Merrick’s men.

Publicly Merrick has maintained that he will focus one match separately meaning the strongest 11 should take the field at Etihad and with Archie Thompson and Robbie Kruse making faster than expected recoveries, the home side will be almost at full strength with Tom Pondeljak the only real regular possibly missing with injury.

Sydney by contrast is without both their marquee striker and key playmaker in Aloisi and Corica but on the flip-side both Mark Bridge and particularly Alex Brosque have been in good touch up front in recent weeks.

These two sides have one of the fiercest rivalries in the league and this will be their fourth meeting in the past 6 weeks; unlike some other sides Sydney don’t seem to be intimidated by travelling to the Victorian capital and in front of what’s potentially a crowd of 50,000, that could be a decisive factor.

Despite that Melbourne’s big-guns such as Thompson and Hernandez thrive on the pressure of finals football and who can forget Thompson’s remarkable 5-goal haul in the Grand Final three years ago. This and the injuries to Sydney should make Melbourne, provided they play a full-strength team, rightful favourites in the third Grand Final in just the 5th season of the A-League.

HEAD TO HEAD

These two clubs have one of the longest and deepest rivalries in the A-League; across 17 matches, Melbourne have won 6 and Sydney 4 with 7 draws.

In Melbourne, the record books also favour the Victory with 4 wins and 3 draws coming the way of Ernie Merrick’s side; however in the current season, Victory only got 1 goalless draw, being played out just prior to Christmas, and 1 loss at home.

The result that most players have been focusing on was the remarkable 3-0 win to Sydney back in early October where a combination of direct football and pace saw the Victory come unstuck.

That kind of scoreline is unlikely here where Melbourne’s big-game players should have the edge and will win.