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Adelaide United will be out to right the wrongs of its insipid performance against Perth Glory when it hosts Melbourne Victory in what is expected to be another enthralling instalment of the Original Rivalry on Saturday night.
The three-day turnaround between matches has allowed the Reds to quickly forget about its first defeat of the season and first in eight matches under Carl Veart.
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Veart’s side will be determined to bounce back and the perfect antidote to such a lacklustre showing is indeed a clash against your fierce rivals.
Victory have not played since the beginning of January, where they suffered a 3-1 home loss to Brisbane Roar.
United has had the wood over the Victorians in recent times at Coopers Stadium, triumphant in their past four matches at the venue with their last setback at home occurring in January 2017.
Veart on first defeat as Head Coach…
We’ve had a quick look at the game and there were certain things in there we weren’t happy with. There were certain standards the playing group have set and we just didn’t reach them and we’ll regroup at training and really focus on Melbourne Victory tomorrow night.
Veart on the chance to rebound against Victory…
It’s the biggest game for our fans, so the players will definitely lift for this game tomorrow. The support that we had for the last home game against Melbourne City was tremendous and if we get that support tomorrow night I’m sure we will come away with the three points.
Veart on Stefan Mauk’s injury…
Stefan is still not quite right. He should be 100% for Brisbane next week. There’s no rush and I think we’re going to see this for the whole season, not just at Adelaide but all the clubs. With a restricted pre-season training that we’ve had and with the uncertainty when we’re playing games and the training and that, I think you’re going to see a lot of injuries in a lot of squads.
Veart on Javi López and Ryan Strain…
They’ve both been added to the squad so there’s a good chance at least one of them will start tomorrow night. We’ll see them today at training, I haven’t seen them this week. So I’ll see them tonight at training and if they both get through training unscathed and tick all the boxes they’ll definitely see some action tomorrow night.
Team news
As Veart intimated, Javi López could feature for the first time in Red tomorrow as he was added to the extended squad, while Ryan Strain, Ryan Kitto and Kusini Yengi have been promoted. However, Stefan Mauk is still out as he continues to manage a calf strain.
Key stats powered by Opta
- Adelaide United have won their past four home games against Melbourne Victory; they have never been on a longer winning streak against them at Coopers Stadium.
- No player has made more clearances in the A-League 2020/21 season than Jordan Elsey (19).
Head-to-head
Played: 52
Wins: 16
Draws: 10
Losses: 26
Last five meetings
2-1 loss (A)
1-0 win (H)
3-1 win (H)
1-0 win (H)
2-0 win (H)
Ones to watch
Ben Halloran will be keen to build on from his late goal against Perth and impose himself on the contest. The 28-year-old is a consistent outlet on the wing and establishing a strong partnership with striker Tomi Juric is paramount, given they are the two leaders of the attack.
Marco Rojas survived a scare, avoiding a serious hamstring injury and if fit will be arguably Victory’s most dangerous player. The pacey winger has the ability to get in behind and is potent goal-scorer.
Match details:
Game date: Saturday, 23 January vs Melbourne Victory
A-League 2020/21 – Matchweek 05
Kick-off 7.10pm ACDT
Gates open 5.40pm ACDT
Venue: Coopers Stadium
Broadcast: Fox Sports
Stream: Kayo Sports, MyFootball Live App
