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Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City renew their rivalry when they square off at the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium in round 20 of the Australian A-League on Saturday. With the Melbourne derby being one of the most heated rivalries in the division, both sides will be looking to prevail here and claim the local bragging rights.
Melbourne Victory returned to winning ways last Friday when they edged out Wellington Phoenix 1-0 courtesy of a second-half strike from Greek forward Nikos Vergos.
This followed a humbling 3-0 thrashing against Newcastle Jets at the McDonald Jones Stadium on February 8, a result which saw their run of two back-to-back victories come to an end.
Melbourne Victory have picked up 28 points from their 17 A-League games this season to sit third in the table, one point and one place above Saturday’s hosts, who have one game in hand.
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Elsewhere, teenage midfielder Lawrence Wong came up trumps for Melbourne City as he netted in the 37th minute to hand them a 1-0 victory over Perth Glory last time out.
This was a much-needed respite for Aurelio Vidmar’s men, who had lost each of their previous three matches, conceding five goals and failing to find the back of the net in that time.
While Melbourne City will be looking to continue from where they left off against Perth and leapfrog the Victory this weekend, they are without a win in seven straight Melbourne derbies since December 2022.
Melbourne Victory vs Melbourne City Head-To-Head and Key Numbers
- With 17 wins from the last 47 meetings between the sides, Melbourne Victory boast a slight upper hand in the history of this fixture.
- Melbourne City have picked up two fewer wins in that time, while the spoils have been shared on 15 occasions.
- Melbourne Victory are on a seven-game unbeaten run against Vidmar’s men, picking up four wins and three draws since a 2-1 loss in December 2022.
- Melbourne City have conceded just 15 goals in the A-League this season — the division’s second-best defensive record with only league leaders Auckland FC shipping fewer (12).
Melbourne Victory vs Melbourne City Prediction
Both Melbourne outfits are firmly in the race for a top-two finish and we expect them to go all out in search of maximum points at the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium.
The Victory are slight favorites on paper and we are backing them to secure bragging rights against Vidmar’s side by claiming all three points.
Prediction: Melbourne Victory 2-1 Melbourne City
Melbourne Victory vs Melbourne City Betting Tips
Tip 1: Result - Melbourne Victory to win
Tip 2: Both sides to score - Yes (Both sides have scored in four of their last five encounters)
Tip 3: Over 4.5 cards - Yes (There have also been at least five bookings in five of the last seven clashes between the two teams)
