Wellington Phoenix travel to Melbourne to take on City for the first time this season, hoping to change their fortunes against the most prolific attack in the league.
Here are some of the key talking points:
Wellington’s mid-season collapse
The New Zealand side’s campaign has been a far cry from that of last season, but their form over the past two months has been particularly concerning. The Nix travel to Melbourne without a win in their last six clashes, having picked up just two points and four goals in that period. With the side suffering a string of frustrating injuries to key players, forcing the likes of Ben Sigmund and Roy Krishna to long stints on the sideline, Ernie Merrick’s deputies have simply under-performed forcing the side to slip down the ladder. Although it’s not too late to turn things around, the Nix lack of quality depth looks to have consigned them to a season without finals football.
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City’s physical game
Although Melbourne’s exciting attack often steals headlines, their physical and intense style certainly has a key role to play in the side’s impressive form this season. Heading into Monday night’s clash City (who boast the highest percentage of tackles) will once again look to impose their physical style as they take on a Wellington outfit who’ve completed the least amount of tackles in the league. So as long as Melbourne continue to embrace their aggressive attitude in the centre of the pitch, the away team will be in for a tough 90 minutes that could well see John van‘t Schip’s men win by simply out-muscling their New Zealand opposition.
Will City’s defence let them down, again?
Melbourne City’s defence has undoubtedly been their weak link this season, seeing the side ship 26 goals – five higher than any other side in the top six, and the second in the league only to the Mariners’ 37. Last week their back line was once again wreaking havoc, gifting a struggling Perth outfit two goals to ensure the home side pulled off an unlikely draw against van‘t Schip’s men. Although Wellington’s attack has hardly been at their best the past two months, Melbourne’s defence cannot hand the Nix (and particularly Roly Bonevacia) opportunities on a platter, or they will be forced to swallow another frustrating result and drop further off the pace of the league leaders.
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