Outside90’s Breanna Holden breaks down the crucial aspects of tonight’s blockbuster clash between the Melbourne Victory and Adelaide United.
Will Adelaide rise to the occasion or sink under pressure?
Eugene Galekovic returned to the fray for United last round and with him came the spark the side have missed all campaign. The Reds completely dominated the clash against Newcastle and were denied a maiden win only by the brilliant performance of Jets keeper Mark Birighitti. Heading to Victoria off the back of that outing, it will be interesting to see if the side are spurred on by the encouraging signs, feeding-off the tense atmosphere to pick up an unlikely three points. Or instead simply crumble under the pressure of the occasion, and their fumbling start to the season.
Can we expect a resurrection of the derby-like atmosphere?
Victory vs United is tagged as the ‘oldest rivalry’, but in seasons past Melbourne have completely dominated the fixture, going undefeated in their last seven matches against the Reds and leaving the clash flat in recent history. However, thanks to a dull stalemate in round one and a poor start to the season by Adelaide, both sides are likely to be hungry to prove a point, meaning we could be in for a return to the thrilling, heated encounters these two sides were once known for.
Where will the Reds’ goals come from?
Victory have had no issues bagging goals so far, particularly at home (10 in last four games), resting first-choice forward Besart Berisha last round and still pulling-off a comfortable 2-1 win. However, the same cannot be said for Adelaide. Despite having the best shooting accuracy in the league (28 shots, 25 on target) the side have only put away six goals all season, two of which were courtesy of opposition players. For United to defeat Victory, a side who come out of the box firing from all cylinders, Guillermo Amor will need to find a solution to their goal scoring woes, particularly when his side boasts the likes of Bruce Djite and Sergio Cirio.
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