Melbourne City vs Melbourne Victory A-League betting tips

An old-fashioned derby takes place in Matchweek 5 of the 2021/22 A-League Men season when Melbourne City host Melbourne Victory on Saturday afternoon at AAMI Park.

This star-studded Melbourne City squad is starting to click into gear following a slow start to the new season and are coming off a 1-0 win over Perth Glory. It took until the 88th minute for Nathaniel Atkinson to put City in front, despite City having the majority of possession and over 20 attempts on goal.

City’s front three of Jamie Maclaren, Andrew Nabbout and Mathew Leckie is without a doubt one of the best forward combinations in the league. What is scary for the competition, and for Victory on Saturday night, is that they have not had a game where they have all clicked at once. Maclaren and Nabbout both have just one goal from four games, whilst Leckie is yet to contribute to a goal in this campaign so far.

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On the other hand, Melbourne Victory could not have hoped for a better start to the season. With three wins and a loss to begin their campaign, the Victory will be confident in gaining a result against their cross-town rivals. Despite going down to 10 men against Adelaide United last week, they were able to walk away with a 2-1 win.

A high portion of Victory’s success thus far can be placed on the shoulders of Marco Rojas, with the Kiwi bagging three assists in the opening month of action. Manager Tony Popovic will be looking for another stellar performance from Rojas, whilst he will be hoping off-season signing Francesco Margiotta can build on his performance last week which saw him net his first goal in the A-League.

Melbourne City vs Melbourne Victory betting predictions

Correct score: Melbourne City 2-1

As mentioned, Melbourne City look to be slowly clicking into gear. The reigning champions bounced back from a shock loss to Western United in Matchweek 3 when defeating Adelaide United last weekend and look to set to go on with it here. Armed with a solid defence and an improving midfield, we expect City to net a couple of goals before Victory push to make the end of this derby a dramatic one. Odds of $7 are on offer for a 2-1 City win, and we think that presents great value.

Anytime goalscorer: Mathew Leckie

Until he found the back of the net in last week’s FFA Cup tie against Hume City, Leckie had not scored a goal in competitive football since his strike in the Socceroos’ 3-0 win over Nepal on June 12. While scoring against an NPL defence should be child’s play for a man with 65 international caps, it might be just the confidence booster he needs to get his season going. Leckie has not set the world on fire in the A-League Men thus far, but we expect the winger to find the back of the net on Saturday night and help dismantle the Victory.

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