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Wellington Phoenix will entertain Melbourne Victory at Wellington Regional Stadium in the A-League semifinal second leg on Saturday. The two teams met in the first leg in Melbourne last week, which ended in a goalless draw.
Phoenix finished second in the league standings in the regular season, just two points behind Premiers Central Coast Mariners, and will look to qualify for the Grand Final for the first time.
The visitors are hoping to make it to the Grand Final for the seventh time and for the first time since being crowned the champions in 2018. They failed to score in the first leg and will look to register themselves on the scoresheet here.
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Wellington Phoenix vs Melbourne Victory Head-to-Head
The two teams have a long-standing rivalry and have met 53 times in all competitions. The visitors have the upper hand in these meetings, with twice the number of wins (26) as the hosts (13). As many as 14 games between them have ended in draws.
The two teams have met four times this season, with three games ending in draws.
Wellington Phoenix form guide (A-League): D-W-D-W-L
Melbourne Victory form guide (A-League): D-W-L-D-L
Wellington Phoenix vs Melbourne Victory Team News
Wellington Phoenix
The hosts have a clean bill of health for the match and Youstin Salas, who was nursing a calf injury, made an appearance from the bench in the first leg.
Injured: None
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Melbourne Victory
Zinedine Machach is suspended for this match and is the only absentee for the visitors.
Injured: None
Doubtful: None
Suspended: Zinedine Machach
Wellington Phoenix vs Melbourne Victory Predicted XI
Wellington Phoenix Predicted XI (4-3-1-2): Alex Paulsen, Tim Payne, Finn Surman, Scott Wootton, Sam Sutton; Nicholas Pennington, Alex Rufer, Benjamin Old; David Ball; Kosta Barbarouses, Bozhidar Kraev
Melbourne Victory Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Paul Izzo, Jason Geria, Damien Da Silva, Roderick Miranda, Adama Traore; Jordi Valadon, Ryan Teague; Nishan Velupillay, Roly Bonevacia, Selim Khelifi; Bruno Fornaroli
Wellington Phoenix vs Melbourne Victory Prediction
The Nix head into the match on a four-game unbeaten run, recording two wins and keeping three clean sheets. They are unbeaten in their last four meetings against the visitors, though three games have ended in draws. They are unbeaten in their last nine home games, recording seven wins, and are strong favorites.
Big V have endured a poor run of form recently, and their only win in their last five games was registered on penalties against local rivals Melbourne City in the elimination final. They have failed to score in three games in that period and have failed to score in their last two meetings against the hosts.
The four meetings between the two teams this season have been contested closely and this one should be no different. Considering Wellington's home record, they are expected to eke out a narrow win.
Prediction: Wellington Phoenix 2-1 Melbourne Victory
