Melbourne Victory will be desperate to maintain pace with the top six when they face Sydney FC in the ‘Big Blue’ in A-League Round 22 action on Saturday night.

Victory vs Sydney kicks off at 7.30pm AEDT at Marvel Stadium. The game will be broadcast live on Fox Sports in Australia.

Prediction

Match Preview

It’s approaching do-or-die territory for Victory as they attempt to keep their finals chances alive against bitter rivals Sydney on Saturday.

Six points adrift of the top six coming into this weekend, Victory kept themselves in realistic contention courtesy of a nail-biting 2-1 win over Adelaide last weekend.

Andrew Nabbout fired home a stoppage-time winner to hand Carlos Salvachua his first win as Victory manager – but now they need to start building some positive momentum.

It doesn’t get any tougher than the runaway competition leaders, but Sydney head into this showdown in somewhat shaky form.

After being blown away by Yokohama in the Champions League a couple of weeks ago, Sydney were defeated for the second time this season in the A-League by the Wanderers last weekend.

Throw in a 2-2 draw mid-week in the Champions League to Jeonbuk Motors, and suddenly Sydney aren’t getting that winning feeling as often as they were – which can affect confidence.

Sydney have won their last two meetings against Victory at Marvel Stadium, but they’d only won four of the previous 16 before those. Form can go out the window in these sorts of matches, but I think Victory are worth the punt given the circumstances.

Match Odds

Sydney FC – $2.25
Melbourne Victory – $3.10
Draw – $3.60

MORE MATCH ODDS FROM SPORTSBET

Stats

– Sydney have won their last two matches vs Victory at Marvel
– Sydney only won four of the previous 16
– No team has blown more points from winning positions than Victory this season (14)

Tips