Friday’s only A-League Elimination Finals match is between Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC. The opening kick-off is set to commence at 7.30pm with the game to be played at Etihad Stadium. The home team Melbourne Victory are the favourites for the match. View our preview and teams for the game between Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC.

Round: Elimination Finals, Friday at 7.30pm AEST.
Stadium: Etihad Stadium
Head to head: Played: 31, Wins: Victory 9, Sydney 9, Draws: 13
Previous encounter: Melbourne Victory 1-1 Sydney FC, Saturday March 29, 2014

Melbourne Victory $1.92 vs Sydney FC $3.90 at Sportsbet Australia get a $650 FREE BET on this match

Melbourne Victory $1.94 vs Sydney FC $3.65 at Luxbet Australia get a $500 FREE BET on this match

Odds Comparison:

Melbourne Victory	1.92	1.95	1.94	1.95	1.92	1.91
Draw	3.55	3.35	3.45	3.35	3.70	3.50
Sydney FC	3.90	4.00	3.65	4.00	3.75	3.75

All odds are subject to change. Odds listed are correct at the time of the latest update.

Teams:

Melbourne Victory squad:
1.Nathan COE (GK), 2. Pablo CONTRERAS, 3.Adama TRAORE, 4.Nick ANSELL, 5.Mark MILLIGAN (C), 6.Leigh BROXHAM, 7.Gui FINKLER, 9.Kosta BARBAROUSES, 10.Archie THOMPSON, 11.Connor PAIN, 13.Andrew NABBOUT, 14.James TROISI, 16.Rashid MAHAZI, 17.James JEGGO, 20.Lawrence THOMAS (GK), 22.Jesse MAKAROUNAS, 24.Scott GALLOWAY, 25.Jason GERIA
**Two to be omitted**
Ins: 2. Pablo CONTRERAS (returns from injury), 16. Rashid MAHAZI (promoted), 13. Andrew NABBOUT (promoted)
Outs: 23. Adrian LEIJER (foot)
Unavailable: 21. Tom ROGIC (groin – tbc)

Sydney FC squad:
1.Ivan NECEVSKI (GK), 2.Seb RYALL, 4.Ranko DESPOTOVIC, 5.Matt JURMAN, 6.Nikola PETKOVIC, 10.Alessandro DEL PIERO (c), 11.Richard GARCIA, 13.Sasa OGNENOVSKI,16.Joel CHIANESE, 17.Terry ANTONIS, 18.Peter TRIANTIS, 20.Vedran JANJETOVIC (GK), 21.Milos DIMITRIJEVIC, 22.Ali ABBAS, 24.Hagi GLIGOR, 28.Matt THOMPSON, 29.Alec UROSEVSKI, 34.Aaron CALVER
**Two to be omitted**
Ins: 4.Ranko DESPOTOVIC (promoted), 18.Peter TRIANTIS (promoted).
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: Rhyan GRANT (knee – season), Pedj BOJIC (back – season), Terry McFLYNN (thigh – 1 week)

Preview:

Form:

Past five matches (in all competitions):
Victory: WWDLD
Sydney: WWDLD

The Game:

This clash hasn’t been this important for quite a while, with the 2009-10 grand final – won by Sydney FC on penalties – the last time these fierce rivals met in a knockout tie. And it’s the Sky Blues who have had the edge across three meetings this season, winning the first two and drawing the most recent.

Victory go into the game in better form, having thumped Wellington 4-1 away from home last weekend before beating Chinese Super League and AFC Champions Leaguer holders Guangzhou Evergrande 2-0 on Tuesday night.

Sydney meanwhile enjoyed their own 4-1 victory over the Phoenix two weeks ago, before labouring to an unconvincing 2-1 win against Perth Glory in the final round of the campaign, needing the help of a last-minute goal to do so.

The big issue:

Victory – Kevin Muscat made plenty of changes for the Evergrande game, and will be able to recall Adama Traore and Guilherme Finkler after a full week’s rest. Leigh Broxham started on the bench but had to come on in the first half on Tuesday for Adrian Leijer, who will miss the Sydney game due to a foot injury. Archie Thompson will also return to selection contention after missing the ACL match due to a family bereavement.

Key men Mark Milligan, Kosta Barbarouses and James Troisi look set to play their third game in seven days. Will they be able to perform at their best against the well-rested visitors?

Sydney – Frank Farina says the Sky Blues squad and starting XI will be largely unchanged from the Perth game. But how they could do with getting striker Ranko Despotovic back! The Serbian front-man hasn’t featured since the 3-1 derby win over the Wanderers on March 8.

In their first three games without him Sydney failed to score more than once in each match, before putting four past the hapless Phoenix, and they had set-pieces to thank in that one. Last weekend they struggled for goals again, highlighting the absence of the man who tormented Victory in Sydney’s 5-0 Australia Day win.

The game breaker:

James Troisi has been Melbourne Victory’s best player in recent weeks, top-scorer for the club in the A-League with 12 goals and leading the team for shots on and off target, passes in the opposition half and dribbles attempted.

While Finkler is arguably slightly better at picking a killer pass and bringing team-mates into the attack, Troisi has a better work rate than Tom Rogic, is quicker than the aging Thompson and more clinical than Barbarouses.

He has the pace to worry Sebastian Ryall and Matthew Jurman coming from a wide position, and can also worry the sometimes ponderous Sasa Ognenovski if deployed centrally. If Ognenovski or Nikola Petkovic tries to step out to shackle him, that will create space for Finkler to operate in or wide attackers to run into.

Source: www.footballaustralia.com.au