A Melbourne derby will start Week 22 of the 2023-2024 A-League season, as Western United will host Melbourne Victory at AAMI Park. Match will begin on Thursday, March 14, at 9 PM CET.
Western United
After winning the title in 2022, when Western United, formerly known as Melbourne United, took down both Victory and Melbourne City on their path to a title, the last two seasons were not as successful for the “green and black”.
Stuck in the middle of the table last year, Western United collapsed to the last place during the current season. With only seven games remaining, a ten point gap to the coveted playoffs spot is almost insurmountable, but WU posted two consecutive wins in recent weeks and will not prematurely throw in the towel.
Melbourne Victory
Four time A-League champions from Victory spent last season near the bottom of the standings, but decided that it was enough and pushed back up in the ongoing campaign.
The Dark Blue are currently sitting in third place, eight points ahead of Melbourne City, who are just out of playoffs, so with seven games left, the spot in the Championship is all but secured. However, a potential Premiership win is still on the table, as Victory are six points behind both Central Coast Mariners and Wellington Phoenix, so every game matters for the squad from Melbourne.
Prediction ⚽️
Melbourne Victory have finally beaten Western United for the first time since 2022 three weeks ago, as they managed to score twice in extra time to win “2-1” to keep pace with the league leaders.
Western United have not lost since, however, and will probably not allow two goals 96 and 99 minutes into the game, so we will side with the “hosts” to not lose with hefty 2.20 odds 🔥.