Sunday’s first A-League Round 16 match is between Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC. The opening kick-off is set to commence at 5:00pm AEDT 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: Round 16, Sunday, 26 January 2014, 5.00pm local (5:00pm AEDT)
Stadium: Etihad Stadium
Head to head: Played: 29 Wins: Victory 9, Sydney 8, Draws: 12
Previous encounter: Sydney 3-2 Victory November 11, 2013

Melbourne Victory $1.53 vs A $6.00 at Sportsbet Australia get a $250 FREE BET on this match

Melbourne Victory $1.00 vs A $1.00 at Luxbet Australia get a $500 FREE BET on this match

Odds Comparison:

Melbourne Victory	1.53	1.60	1.56	1.60	1.53	1.53
Draw	4.20	3.85	4.00	3.85	4.20	4.00
Sydney FC	6.00	5.50	5.25	5.50	6.00	5.50

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, 4.Nick ANSELL, 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), 21.Tom ROGIC, 23.Adrian LEIJER, 24.Scott GALLOWAY, 25.Jason GERIA, 31.Dylan MURNANE.
**Two to be omitted**
Ins: 4.Nick ANSELL (returns from international duty), 11.Connor PAIN (returns from international duty), 13.Andrew NABBOUT (returns from injury), 21.Tom ROGIC (Celtic FC), 24.Scott GALLOWAY (returns from international duty), 25.Jason GERIA (returns from international duty).

Outs: 3. Adama TRAORE (suspension – 1 week), 22. Jesse MAKAROUNAS, 26. Jordan BROWN, 27. Christopher CRISTALDO
Unavailable: 5. Mark MILLIGAN (knee, 3-5 weeks)

Sydney FC squad:
1.Ivan NECEVSKI (go), 2.Seb RYALL, 3.Marc WARREN, 4.Ranko DESPOTOVIC, 5.Matt JURMAN, 6.Nikola PETKOVIC, 8.Pedj BOJIC, 9.Corey GAMEIRO, 10.Alessandro DEL PIERO (c), 15.Terry MCFLYNN, 16.Joel CHIANESE, 19.Nick CARLE, 20.Vedran JANJETOVIC (go), 21.Milos DIMITRIJEVIC, 22.Ali ABBAS, 24.Hagi GLIGOR, 27.Christopher NAUMOFF, 28.Matt THOMPSON.
**Two to be omitted**
Ins: 24.Hagi GLIGOR (promoted), 27.Christopher NAUMOFF (promoted).
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: Rhyan GRANT (knee – season), Peter TRIANTIS (groin – indefinite).

Preview:

Form:

Past five matches:

Victory: LWDLD

Sydney: LLDLL

The Game:

Here are two teams badly in need of three points.

Victory have only won once in their past five games, a convincing but somewhat anomalous 3-1 triumph over an under-strength Western Sydney Wanderers in oppressive heat early last week.

Missing a host of key players through injury and international duty, they then suffered a disastrous 5-0 defeat away to Wellington Phoenix last week and will be keen to make amends for one of the worst losses in their proud history.

Sydney meanwhile are also winless in five, and four of those were defeats, including a nightmare 5-2 loss to Brisbane Roar in front of their own fans on Boxing Day.

Narrow 1-0 reverses against local rivals Western Sydney and title-holders Central Coast followed.

Frank Farina’s side have shipped goals at the back and struggled to mount a threat up top, with pressure on the coach growing once again after a promising period leading up to Christmas.

The big issue:

Victory – Winning the midfield battle could be a challenge for Victory, who have lost Mitch Nichols to Japan, while Mark Milligan is out for at least a month following minor knee surgery.

That leaves Rashid Mahazi and Jimmy Jeggo to start, although Leigh Broxham could return to midfield if Jason Geria is available at right-back after returning from the AFC Under-22 Championship.

Sydney – Where will the Sky Blues’ goals come from? Alessandro Del Piero can’t always do it all himself, and looked tired against the Mariners.

Corey Gameiro was largely anonymous in that game, while Ranko Despotovic, pushed out to a wide role, struggled to make an impact.

Richard Garcia could return from a bruised ankle, and will add some energy and drive if available.

The game breaker:

It’s too soon to tip loan signing Tom Rogic to make a significant impact for Victory, with his role likely to be restricted to a cameo appearance off the bench.

That means fellow loanee James Troisi and Brazilian Guilherme Finkler will shoulder the burden of creating and orchestrating Victory’s attacks, provided the undermanned holding duo further back can win enough of the ball to release them in advanced positions.

Source: www.footballaustralia.com.au