Two of the worst teams in the A-League square off as Perth Glory host Melbourne Victory at HBF Park. Both sides have been poor in defence and should produce goals on Sunday.
Perth Glory were beaten in their last A-League fixture, losing 3-1 at home to Melbourne City. Despite taking a first half lead through Chris Ikonomidis, they proved to be no match for the league leaders and played on the back foot for much of the encounter.
Richard Garcia’s men have been in freefall in recent weeks with no wins in their last six A-League matches. That poor run has seen them drop to 10th on the table, 10 points off the final series playoff place.
Maintaining their defensive discipline has been a problem for Perth Glory throughout the season but things appear to have gotten worse lately. They have kept just one clean sheet in their last six matches, conceding six goals in the last three.
Melbourne Victory are also coming of a defeat in their previous A-League fixture as they were beaten 2-1 at home by Macarthur. They failed to build on an early opener from Elvis Kamsoba and allowed the visitors back into the contest.
Victory have been unable to build any kind of traction this season and remain two points off the foot of the table. They travel to HBF Park with just three wins from their last 15 A-League matches.
Like their hosts, Steve Kean’s men have also been hampered by poor defending throughout the season. They have kept just one clean sheet this season and have conceded 15 goals in their last five matches.
How the bookies view it
The bookies have installed Perth Glory as favourites with a home victory valued at 5/8 by SBK. A win for Melbourne Victory is priced at 43/10 by the same firm while a draw is set at odds of 16/5 by Unibet.
Head to head
Melbourne Victory have the upper hand in this fixture with 24 wins from 55 previous matches. Perth Glory have been victorious 19 times while both teams have battled to 12 draws.
Victory triumphed 2-1 in the last meeting between both teams back in January.
Players to watch
Bruno Fornaroli is the top scorer for Perth Glory with eight goals and will be hoping to end a lengthy drought. Bet365 is offering odds of 8/11 on the Uruguayan striker to score anytime while the first goal is priced at 3/1 by the same firm.
Melbourne Victory have spread their recent goals across the team with Ben Folami and Callum McManaman on target lately. Bet365 has Folami at 3/1 to score anytime while also offering 4/1 on McManaman in the same market.
Anything else catch the eye?
With both teams showing weaknesses in defence, a punt in the goals market could provide some rewards. Over 2.5 goals is priced at 8/15 by Red Zone, over 3.5 goals is valued at 11/8 by BetVictor while SBK is offering 16/5 for over 4.5 goals.
Both teams often score much of their goals after the break, so the second half could also be tipped as the highest scoring half at evens with betway. Both teams are also likely to score in the second half at 7/4 with bet365.
This A League match between Perth Glory and Melbourne Victory will be played on May 9, 2021 and kick off at 09:10. Check below for our tipsters best Perth Glory vs Melbourne Victory prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.