Melbourne Victory vs Melbourne City A-League Preview and Betting Tips 23-02-2019

The A-League finals are getting closer and the stakes are huge in the Melbourne Derby at Marvel Stadium on Saturday. Victory are desperately trying to hang on to second spot while City are looking to shore up their finals position.

Both Melbourne A-League Teams in Form Slump

Despite their lofty ladder positions, both sides are in relatively poor form. Victory lost to ladder leaders Perth Glory in their last home encounter before struggling to a 1-1 draw at Wellington Phoenix last Friday night. They have Sydney FC breathing down their neck for second place on the ladder. City have just a point from their last four starts, having drawn at home with Adelaide and lost away to Wellington, Sydney FC, and Newcastle Jets.

.@PerthGloryFC go nine points clear!

With eight games left, can anyone catch them?#ALeague pic.twitter.com/C1xi4weJ5i

— Hyundai A-League (@ALeague) February 17, 2019

Although City are the underdogs, the good omen for them is that won three of the past four away matches against Victory at Marvel. City won 2-1 at Marvel in October this season and the two sides drew 1-1 when they met at AAMI Park in the return fixture in December. The total score in the last four matches at Marvel has been City nine goals to Victory four.

IT'S #MelbDerby WEEK! pic.twitter.com/SAUN0iJGPj

— Melbourne City FC ?? (@MelbourneCity) February 17, 2019

Melbourne Victory v Melbourne City Betting Tips

Despite City’s edge in Derby matches, their poor recent form and Victory’s strong record this season suggests the home team is a worthy favourite. Victory have a 10-4-3 record as favourites this season, while City are 5-1-4 as underdogs. Unibet has Victory as a 2.09 favourite.

Both teams have got on the score sheet in 10 of the last 11 Melbourne derbies. The only time either side has kept a clean sheet during that period was in December 2017 when Victory held City scoreless. These teams drew last time they met, but it was only their second tie in the last 17 league matches between them. Given these two stats, it’s hard to look past Neds’ 2.50 odds for no draw and both teams to score.