Melbourne Victory
- Victory are third in the standings with 35 points from 22 games while Wellington Phoenix are in eighth with 27 from the same number of games.
- Melbourne Victory are unbeaten in their last five A-League games (W3, D2).
- Melbourne Victory have won six of their 11 home games in the A-League 2025/2026 (D3, L2).
- Victory come into this having won their last two home games against Macarthur FC (4-1) and Central Coast Mariners (4-1).
- Diles has been able to vary his lineup with a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 formation, depending on the game plan, but the key principles have remained the same throughout.
Wellington Phoenix
- Wellington Phoenix have not won on either of their previous two trips to Melbourne.
- Wellington Phoenix have won three of their 10 away matches in A-League 2025/2026 (D4, L3) with 1.60 goals per game scored and 1.90 goals per game conceded, which is not ideal ahead of this game.
Head-to-Head
Melbourne Victory have won four of their last five matches against Wellington Phoenix FC, including a 3-2 victory seven weeks ago.
Key Players
- Melbourne Victory
- Juan Mata is a playmaker in the truest sense with 12 assists in 22 A-League matches, contributing 4 goals and 4 assists in the last 5 matches.
- Nikolaos Vergos, who has bagged 6 A-League goals in 22 matches, could be the key goal threat for Victory.
- Wellington Phoenix
- Corban Piper has been in good form recently, having scored two of Phoenix’s last four goals.
- Ifeanyi Eze has been the top scorer in his ranks with 9 in 21 league appearances.
Betting Insights
- Backing a home team that is in very good form at 1.55 is the best way to go here, as Wellington’s recent results have been mixed with 2 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses in their last 5 league games.
- Our preference is to side with Melbourne to take the three points with some style.
Prediction
Victory should come out on top in what is likely to be a lively, goal-fest with two of the more adventurous coaches in Australia in charge.
