Melbourne Victory vs Perth Glory FC

The Victory won their final match away at Wellington 3-2, sealing 3rd place on the ladder and a home final with a 13-5-9 win/draw/loss record.
Perth managed to hold off a fast finishing Adelaide in their final match to share the points with a 1-1 draw. Combined with Sydney’s loss to Brisbane earlier in the week, the Glory qualified in 6th place with superior goal difference to that of Sydney FC. Perth managed 9 wins, 5 draws and 13 losses across the 2012/13 season.

The statistical breakdown
Head to Head: Melbourne Victory 9 wins, Perth Glory 10 wins, 5 draws.
Head to Head (Previous 5): Melbourne Victory 2 wins, Perth Glory 3 wins, 0 draws.
At Etihad Stadium: Melbourne Victory 4 wins, Perth Glory 0 wins, 2 draws.
This season: Melbourne Victory 2 wins, Perth Glory 1 win, 0 draws.
Last match: Melbourne Victory 2-3 Perth Glory (23/03/2013 at AAMI Park, Melbourne).
Last match at Etihad Stadium: Melbourne Victory 2-2 Perth Glory (20/11/2011).
With Jarred Gillett as referee: Melbourne Victory 4 wins, 4 draws, 6 losses; Perth Glory 4 wins, 1 draw, 7 losses.

Facts and Figures

• Melbourne Victory and Perth Glory have never previously faced off in an A-League finals match.
• Archie Thompson is the leading scorer at Etihad Stadium, with 24 goals from the 56 games he has played there.
• Perth Glory have never won an A-League match at Etihad Stadium.
• Melbourne’s Archie Thompson has scored 7 A-League Finals goals in his career, the most of any player.
• Perth’s Shane Smeltz has scored 6 A-League Finals goals in his career, the second most of any player.
• Melbourne have recorded 3 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss in their 5 matches at Etihad Stadium this season.
• Two of Perth’s goal scorers from their last match against the Victory are injured and will not take part in this game.
• Match referee Jarred Gillett last refereed a match between Melbourne and Perth in week 9 of this season, when Melbourne defeated Perth 1-0 at AAMI Park.

Injury report

• Melbourne Victory - Gui Finkler (knee), Nick Ansell (groin), Adama Traore (ankle), Jesse Makarounas (hamstring).
• Perth Glory – Travis Dodd (knee), Chris Harold (calf).

Where Melbourne have the advantage

• Rojas, Milligan, Thompson
  The last time Melbourne and Perth met, the experienced and valuable trio for the Victory were all away on international duty. This time around, Ange Postecoglou will have all three at his disposal, who have combined for 31 of the Victory’s 48 goals this season.
• The crowd are on their side
  A crowd of around 30-40,000 is expected on Friday night, with the vast majority backing the home team. Never underestimate the value of a home crowd in willing a team on in a finals match – the Victory have recorded 5 wins from the 6 finals matches they have previously hosted at Etihad Stadium, with an average attendance in those matches of 42,269.
• Attacking injuries for the Glory
  The Victory may be missing Adama Traore and Nick Ansell from their defensive line, but with Chris Harold, Travis Dodd and possibly Shane Smeltz all missing for the Glory, there may be no out-and-out striking options open to Alistair Edwards. If that is the case, he may resort to using Dean Heffernan and Ryo Nagai as his forward pairing as he did last week against Adelaide.

Where Perth have the advantage

• No expectations, nothing to lose
  The fact is that Melbourne are expected to win this match at home, which may provide Alistair Edwards’ side with the impetus it needs to throw everything they have at the Victory.
• Mental advantage
  The last time these two sides met, a late Josh Risdon winner stole all 3 points for the Glory across town at AAMI Park. If the Glory translate that advantage into this match, then they may be well on the way to causing a big upset in the first week of the finals.
• In form
  Perth look to be the more in-form team, having recorded 3 wins and a draw from their last 5 matches, including wins on the road in Newcastle and Melbourne. The Victory, on the other hand, have managed 2 wins and 2 draws in the same period of time, and looked particularly vulnerable in defence against bottom-placed Wellington last weekend.