Failing to perform in their last 4 matches, Melbourne City dropped to 3rd place, and are not far off from being effectively eliminated from the title race this season. They will hope to get a chance and bounce back in the next fixture when they host second to last team in the league Brisbane Roar at Marvel Stadium.
After disappointing performances in the last 4 fixtures, Melbourne Victory dropped to the 3rd place in the league, where they sit with an 11-5-5 record and a 0-2-2 in their last 4 fixtures. Looking back at the last 4 matches, Victory only managed to grab a point from Wellington Phoenix (1:1) and Melbourne City (1:1), however, walked home empty-handed from the fixtures against Perth Glory (1:2) and most recently against Newcastle Jets (0:2). If their subpar performances in the league are not enough, Melbourne City also lost two matches in ACL, when they were faced against Daegu (1:3) and Hiroshima (2:1). This ultimately means Melbourne Victory are on a 3 game losing streak in all competitions and without a win in their last 6. Looking back at their most recent fixture against Hiroshima, Victory were not considered a favourite, however, this should not be an excuse for their subpar performance. Out of 15 goal attempts they managed to create only had 3 shots on goal throughout 90 minutes. On the other side, Hiroshima were much more efficient with the ball. Despite having only 37% ball possession the Japanese team produced 12 goal attempts and 6 shots on goal, two of which they converted into a goal, while Victory only managed to score once. As it stands now, Melbourne Victory are in a bad spot. While they manage to hold on to the ball for most of the time in their fixtures, they seemingly have no idea what to do with it and even when they get a chance to score, their shots fail to find the target. With no wins since the start of February, the morale of the team surely is not up where they would want it to be.
On the other side, we have Brisbane Roar, who were not too convincing this season, but have seen some improvement in recent matches. Looking back at their last 5 fixtures, Brisbane won against Sydney FC (2:1) and Central Coast Mariners (3:5), while they were defeated by Adelaide United (4:3), Perth Glory (4:0) and the improved WS Wanderers on March 8th (1:4). We can be sure Brisbane won’t finish anywhere near the top of the league, but they are still an improved version of themselves looking at their recent matches. This might not seem like it’s true after a 1:4 defeat against WS Wanderers, but we must keep in mind, WS Wanderers have been performing surprisingly well in their recent matches, even grabbing a point against Perth Glory (1:1).
This will be a match between the 3rd placed Melbourne Victory and 9th placed Brisbane Roar, which might seem like an easy win for the home side, but I do not believe this will be anywhere near an easy fixture for the struggling Melbourne Victory. Their biggest problem is converting goal attempts into shots on goal, which will be a problem going forward into the league. In the last 5 league fixtures, Melbourne Victory only managed to score 6 goals, which is the 2nd worst record in the league. Brisbane on the other side produced 11 goals in the same amount of matches. Comparing the teams, Brisbane Roar have been performing far better than their opponents, which is why I would not be surprised if the visiting team manages to upset Victory and walks away from this fixture with all 3 points.
Prediction: Brisbane Roar to win
Odds: 7.70 Pinnacle
