NPL preview: Victory v Moreland City

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Melbourne Victory is looking to extend its unbeaten run in the NPL2 West to four games when it hosts Moreland City at Epping Stadium on Sunday.

Summary

Victory moved up to fourth on the table after a comprehensive 6-1 win over the Bulleen Lions in Round 6.

The win was its second straight – after beating the Whittlesea Ranges – and stretched its unbeaten run to three matches.

Jack Palazzolo scored a second hat-trick in as many games during Victory’s win over Bulleen.

The 18-year-old forward already has seven goals this season, almost matching his tally of eight from 2018.

Rahmat Akbari, 18, scored an early brace for Victory, while Palazzolo’s strike partner Yazid Said, 19, also struck.

Victory has netted 17 times in six games so far this campaign, the second most in the NPL2 West.

Moreland is eighth on the table ahead of the encounter, and it beat Victory 6-0 when the teams met last season.

Head coach Gareth Naven’s pre-match thoughts

“The attitude is reflecting in how we approach the game, our intensity, our tempo, playing the match at our speed – not at the NPL speed – and we’re getting better at it. One of the challenges for us now is to repeat it and we’re doing a fair bit of practice in training to try and make sure we train that in our young players and it’s the way we want to go about the way we play.”

This week

NPL2 West 2019 Round 7
Melbourne Victory v Moreland City
Sunday, March 31, 3.00pm AEDT
Epping Stadium, Melbourne

U20 NPL2 West 2019 Round 7
Melbourne Victory v Moreland City
Sunday, March 31, 12.30pm AEDT
Epping Stadium, Melbourne

U18 NPL West 2019 Round 6
Melbourne Knights v Melbourne Victory
Sunday, March 31, 1.00pm AEDT
Knights Stadium, Melbourne

U15 NPL West 2019 Round 6
Melbourne Knights v Melbourne Victory
Sunday, March 31, 11.00am AEDT
Knights Stadium, Melbourne

Last week

NPL2 West: Bulleen Lions 1 Victory 6 (Akbari 4’/9′, Palazzolo 37’/48’/80′, Said 54′)
U20 NPL2 West: Bulleen Lions 3 Victory 1
U18 NPL West: Victory 5 (OG 34′, Moukachar 49’/56′, Brown-Shaw 65′, Latsis 70′) Geelong 1