A-League Betting: Melbourne City looking a decent bet to see off Victory in the Melbourne derby
Recommended bet: Melbourne City to win @ 6/5 (2.20) with William Hill
It’s the Melbourne derby in what is unquestionably the A-League clash of the weekend at AAMI Park between Melbourne City and Melbourne Victory.
City have had the better of games between the two teams of late, with a resounding 4-1 win in the A-League at the Etihad Stadium in mid-October, followed by a 2-0 win at AAMI Park in the FFA Cup semi-final 10 days later.
Both teams come into the game in decent form, with City unbeaten in six matches in all competitions and the Big V undefeated in their last four. As things stand, City lie second in the table, six points adrift of Sydney FC, whilst Victory are a point and one place back in third, albeit with a game in hand. Aside from the two defeats to City, Victory’s only other loss this season was 2-1 at top of the table Sydney.
Both these teams have goals in them and can count on a prolific goalscorer each. Victory’s Albanian striker Besart Berisha is the current leading marksman in the A-League with eight goals to his name this term, but City’s Uruguayan forward Bruno Fornaroli, who top-scored with 25 goals last season, is just a goal back.
City came within nine-minutes of handing Sydney a first defeat of the season last weekend, with only a late penalty salvaging a draw for the league leaders at the ANZ Stadium. City had been in front since the half-hour mark through a brilliant Fernando Brandan strike, but couldn’t see the game out against the 10-men.
Things were more straightforward for Victory, as a Berisha hat-trick secured a 3-0 win at Western Sydney Wanderers.
With City having had the edge in recent meetings (three wins and a draw from the last four games), they look a decent bet to maintain that form here at odds against. There’s a temptation to back a City win with both teams to score. That’s copped in eight of City’s 10 league games this season and six of nine in Victory’s matches (although only one of their last four), but a simple punt on the City win is the safer option here.
