Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City clash in the Melbourne Derby on Sunday, with both sides sat at opposite ends of the Australian A-League table.
The hosts find themselves just one point ahead of basement side Newcastle Jets but did record a convincing 6-1 victory over Western United last time out, while Melbourne City sit at the summit of the division, having already booked their place in the playoffs.
Match preview
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Melbourne Victory recorded an eye-catching win last time out, when they took on fellow strugglers Western United away from home, with both sides looking to end long losing runs.
Goals from Jake Brimmer, Rudy Gestede, Ben Folami and Jacob Butterfield alongside an Elvis Kamsoba brace saw the visitors pick up a dominant 6-1 victory.
That broke a five-game losing run, as the Melbourne outfit suffered defeats at the hands of Perth Glory, Sydney FC, Adelaide United and Macarthur on two separate occasions.
That poor run meant that Victory have now lost 17 of their 25 games in the Australian top flight, having picked up just 18 points, one better than Newcastle Jets at the foot of the table.
As a result of their disappointing campaign, manager Grant Brebner was dismissed in April, with Steve Kean stepping up for the remainder of the season before Tony Popovic takes over following the end of the campaign.
They will look to end the season on a positive note going into a fresh start next year, while they will also be desperate to get one over on their opponents, having suffered two heavy defeats to their rivals this campaign.
Firstly, Victory lost 6-0 on home turf, as Connor Metcalfe netted a brace alongside goals from Jamie Maclaren, Florin Berenguer, Rostyn Griffiths and Stefan Colakovski, before Melbourne City thrashed them 7-0 with Maclaren netting five goals.
As a result, they will go in search of a win over their city rivals to restore pride and build positivity going into next season.
Meanwhile, their opponents will aim to build momentum going into the playoff campaign, having sealed their spot in the top six.
Melbourne City currently sit at the summit of the A-League table, with a four-point lead over second-placed Sydney FC, who only have one game of the regular season left to play.
That means they have booked their spot in the semi-finals of the playoffs, while also achieving qualification to the 2022 AFC Champions League.
Patrick Kisnorbo's men have secured that spot by picking up 48 points from their 24 games so far this season, having won 15 of those matches.
That is largely down to their strong attacking record, with no side coming close to matching their 55 league goals.
However, City suffered a disappointing defeat in their last outing as they were comfortably beaten 3-0 by Brisbane Roar with Jay O'Shea netting a brace alongside an Alex Parsons goal.
While their intensity may have understandably dropped since securing top spot, Kisnorbo's men will look to make sure they return to form going into the playoffs later this month as they aim for their first A-League Championship title.
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Team News
Melbourne Victory remain without a long list of players through injury, as defender Nick Ansell misses out alongside midfielder Birkan Kirdar.
Meanwhile, Robbie Kruse, Brandon Lauton and Marco Rojas will all continue spells on the sidelines.
However, the Victory attack will still come into the game with plenty of renewed confidence, with frontman Rudy Gestede and winger Ben Folami each netting a goal last time out while winger Elvis Kamsoba bagged a brace.
Kean should look to keep an unchanged side after they secured their most impressive win of the season last time out.
Melbourne City will be without key players across the pitch, as centre-back Curtis Good, midfielder Connor Metcalfe and forward Jamie Maclaren are all away on international duty with the Australian national team.
Maclaren has been the key man in City's attack this season, having netted 24 goals in 25 league games alongside five assists.
In his absence, Florin Berenguer should play a more important role in the forward line, while Stefan Colakovski is expected to come in to lead the line.
Meanwhile, Nathan Atkinson and Andrew Nabbout will miss out through injury, adding to Kisnorbo's selection concerns.
Melbourne Victory possible starting lineup:
Acton; Roux, Broxham, Ryan, Traore; Butterfield, Brimmer; Kamsoba, McManaman, Folami; Gestede
Melbourne City possible starting lineup:
Sutton; Galloway, Georgievski, Reis, Garuccio; Gomulka, O'Neill; Tilio, Berenguer, Tsubaki; Colakovski
We say: Melbourne Victory 1-1 Melbourne City
While this game may seem like a certain Melbourne City win on the surface, there is reason to believe that Melbourne Victory could snatch a result on Sunday.
They should feel renewed after breaking a long losing run, while the visitors may slightly take their foot of the gas knowing their playoff spot is secured, meanwhile the loss of key players down the middle of the pitch will undoubtedly be a major blow.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Melbourne City win with a probability of 63.66%. A draw had a probability of 19.3% and a win for Melbourne Victory had a probability of 17.06%.
The most likely scoreline for a Melbourne City win was 1-2 with a probability of 9.8%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (9.09%) and 0-1 (8.11%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (8.74%), while for a Melbourne Victory win it was 2-1 (4.71%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with an 8.7% likelihood.
