Melbourne Victory will look to put their crushing defeat to leaders Melbourne City behind them as they host Western Sydney Wanderers in an A-League fixture at Marvel Stadium. Western Sydney are hoping to turn their recent draws into wins and will be confident of getting past the bottom side.
Melbourne Victory are coming off their heaviest defeat of the season as they were beaten 7-0 by Melbourne City last time out in the A-League. They were no match for their city rivals and completely collapsed after defender Adama Traore got sent off.
While it might be easy to blame the red card for their defeat, Steve Kean's men have been poor all season having already lost 6-0 at home to the same opponents earlier in the campaign. They have been rooted to the bottom of the table for much of the season and head into Friday’s match with just one win from their last eight matches.
Melbourne Victory have an even worse record at Marvel Stadium, where they have lost their last four matches. They suffered a 3-0 defeat to Sydney FC in their previous home fixture.
Western Sydney Wanderers suffered a disappointing 2-1 defeat to Brisbane Roar in their previous A-League fixture. Bruce Kamau struck a first half equaliser after conceding early but they found themselves behind again before the break and were unable to find a way back despite having 19 shots in the second half.
Craig Robinson’s men are stuck in mid-table having drawn three of their last four matches. In truth they are playing better than their recent results suggest and will be hopeful of getting the win their performances deserve against the bottom team.
Western Sydney have been better on the road lately and travel to Marvel Stadium with just one defeat in their last nine away matches. Among their results in that run are 1-0 victories over Western United and second place Central Coast Mariners.
How the bookies view it
Western Sydney Wanderers are favourites among the bookies and priced at 19/20 by Red Zone to win. A win for Melbourne Victory is valued at 14/5 by bet365 while SBK is offering 3/1 for a draw.
Given Melbourne Victory’s poor home record in recent weeks, I am going with the bookies here and leaning towards a win for Western Sydney.
Head to head
Western Sydney have the upper hand in this fixture with 13 wins from 24 previous matches. Melbourne Victory have claimed seven victories while both teams have played out four draws.
Western Sydney have won the last three meetings and triumphed 2-0 in the reverse fixture back in February.
Players to watch
Melbourne Victory often struggle in attack with most of their goals coming from midfield. Jake Brimmer is the team’s top scorer with four goals and the midfielder is priced at 11/2 by bet365 to score anytime.
Bruce Kamau has been the man in form for Western Sydney in recent weeks with three goals in his last three matches. Bet365 has the striker at 12/5 in the anytime goalscorer market.
Anything else catch the eye?
With Melbourne Victory boasting one of the worst defences in the A-League, there are often goals in their matches. Over 4.5 goals is priced at 19/5 by BetVictor, over 3.5 goals is valued at 17/11 by Red Zone who are also offering 13/19 for over 2.5 goals.
Western Sydney will be hopeful of scoring in both halves at 6/4 with Sporting Index while the second half could be picked as the highest scoring half at 21/20 with Sport Nation.
This A League match between Melbourne Victory and Western Sydney Wanderers will be played on Apr 23, 2021 and kick off at 10:05. Check below for our tipsters best Melbourne Victory vs Western Sydney Wanderers prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
