Melbourne Victory will begin its Westfield FFA Cup defence on Wednesday night, when it takes on Newcastle Jets in the Round of 32.
The two Hyundai A-League clubs will go head to head at Magic Park in Broadmeadow, New South Wales for a place in the last 16.
The game will be Victory’s third in 12 days after strong performances against Juventus and Atletico Madrid.
Victory claimed its maiden Westfield FFA Cup last year, defeating Balmain Tigers, Rockdale City Suns, Adelaide United and Hume City on its way to a 2-0 win over Perth Glory in the Final at AAMI Park.
Victory reached the Quarter Finals in the first year of the competition in 2014, losing to Perth in extra time.
The Jets have bowed out in the Round of 32 on both occasions, falling to Glory each time.
Victory striker Besart Berisha enters this year’s Westfield FFA Cup as the competition’s top scorer, having netting eight goals in total (three in 2014 and five in 2015).
Defender Jason Geria will miss the game against Newcastle due to suspension after receiving a red card in the Hyundai A-League Elimination Finals earlier this year.
While the game will not be broadcast on Fox Sports, a live stream will be provided at foxsports.com.au.
Renew or join as a Melbourne Victory member and stand Arm in Arm with us in 2016/17. Click here for more details.
Westfield FFA Cup 2016 Round of 32 – Match Day 3
Newcastle Jets v Melbourne Victory
Wednesday, August 3, 7.30pm AEST
Magic Park, Broadmeadow
Referee: Alan Milliner
Broadcast: Streamed online here and Apple TV via Fox Sports Now
Online: Join the conversation using #NEWvMVC and #FFACup
Newcastle Jets squad: 1.Ben Kennedy (gk), 2.Daniel Mullen, 3.Jason Hoffman, 4.Nigel Boogaard, 5.Ben Kantarovski, 6.Steven Ugarkovic, 7.Andrew Hoole, 8.Mateo Poljak, 10.Wayne Brown, 11.Labinot Haliti, 12.Andy Brennan, 13.Ivan Vujica, 14.Mitch Cooper, 15.Andrew Nabbout, 16.Nicholas Cowburn, 17.Radovan Pavicevic, 19.Morten Nordstrand, 20.Jack Duncan (gk), 21.Daniel Alessi, 22.Lachlan Jackson, 23.Devante Clut
Melbourne Victory squad: 2.Jason Geria, 3.Scott Galloway, 4.Nick Ansell, 5.Daniel Georgievski, 6.Leigh Broxham, 8.Besart Berisha, 11.Mitch Austin, 13.Oliver Bozanic, 14.Fahid Ben Khalfallah, 15.Alan Baro, 16.Rashid Mahazi, 17.James Donachie, 19.George Howard, 20.Lawrence Thomas (gk), 21.Carl Valeri, 22.Stefan Nigro, 23.Jai Ingham, 25.Sebastian Pasquali, 30.Lucas Spinella (gk)
Melbourne Victory in the Westfield FFA Cup
2014
Round of 32 – defeated Bayswater City 2-0 at WA Athletics Stadium
Round of 16 – defeated Tuggeranong United 6-0 at Viking Park
Quarter Final – defeated by Perth Glory 4-2 (in extra time) at nib Stadium
2015
Round of 32 – defeated Balmain Tigers 6-0 at Leichhardt Oval
Round of 16 – defeated Rockdale City Suns 3-2 at Jubilee Oval
Quarter Final – defeated Adelaide United 3-1 at AAMI Park
Semi Final – defeated Hume City 3-0 at AAMI Park
Final – defeated Perth Glory 2-0 at AAMI Park
