Melbourne Victory is eyeing its first win of the season when it visits Brisbane Roar in the Hyundai A-League on Friday.
Summary
Victory has collected one point from its opening two games of the campaign and suffered a 2-1 loss to the Western Sydney Wanderers in its previous outing.
Ola Toivonen opened his account for the campaign, but Victory was unable to complete a comeback despite a strong finish.
Toivonen has now scored 16 league goals in just 24 appearances for Victory.
Victory heads to Suncorp Stadium having not been beaten at the venue in its past three visits, including claiming two wins in Brisbane last season.
Andrew Nabbout could make his 50th appearance in all competitions for Victory, while Adama Traore – left on the bench for the Wanderers clash due to stiffness in his knee – is one game away from 50 Hyundai A-League matches for the club.
Brisbane has played one league game so far this season, drawing away to Perth Glory in its opener.
Player in focus
What they said
“I’ve enjoyed it. There have been a lot of changes. Pre-season is very long in the A-League, but in saying that, a lot of the foreign players – not only for our team, but for a lot of the teams – come in quite late, just before the season, so we’ve got a few players that will be hitting their straps a bit later after a few games. Even the new coaching staff, so it’s a lot of changes.” – Victory defender James Donachie.
“They (Victory) have a new manager, they’ve changed style, they’ve got some new players, but they’re one of the biggest clubs in Australia for a reason. They’re always going to be a tough task for any team so it’ll be no different this weekend.” – Roar forward Roy O’Donovan.
Last time
Hyundai A-League 2018/19 Round 22
Melbourne Victory 2-1 Brisbane Roar
Saturday, March 16, 2019
Marvel Stadium, Melbourne
A first-half brace from Kosta Barbarouses put Victory in control when the teams met late last season.
Eric Bautheac struck in the second half for Brisbane, but Victory held on for three points.
As it stands
Head to head
Round 22, 2018/19: Victory 2-1 Roar at Marvel Stadium
Round 15, 2018/19: Roar 0-5 Victory at Suncorp Stadium
Round 8, 2018/19: Roar 2-4 Victory at Suncorp Stadium
Round 20, 2017/18: Victory 1-2 Roar at AAMI Park
Round 11, 2017/18: Roar 1-2 Victory at Suncorp Stadium
Match details
Brisbane Roar v Melbourne Victory
Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Friday, October 25, 2019
Kick-off: 7.30pm AEDT
Melbourne Victory squad: 2.Storm ROUX, 3.Corey BROWN, 4.James DONACHIE, 6.Leigh BROXHAM, 7.Kenny ATHIU, 8.Jakob POULSEN, 9.Andrew NABBOUT, 11.Ola TOIVONEN (c), 14.Thomas DENG, 16.Josh HOPE, 17.Elvis KAMSOBA, 18.Migjen BASHA, 19.Ben CARRIGAN, 20.Lawrence THOMAS (gk), 21.Adama TRAORE, 22.Kristijan DOBRAS, 26.Jay BARNETT, 30.Matthew SUTTON (gk)
**two to be omitted**
Ins:
Outs: 24.Anthony LESIOTIS (illness), 25.Brandon LAUTON (illness)
Unavailable: 1.Matt ACTON (shoulder), 5.Tim HOOGLAND (quad), 10.Robbie KRUSE (hamstring), 13.Birkan KIRDAR (international duty)
