Western Sydney Wanderers have just one more match remaining of this season’s A-League campaign which is against a beleaguered Melbourne Victory outfit at their Bankwest Stadium, and although the hosts now have no chance of a top six finish, they’ll nevertheless be seeking to finish their season on a positive note.
Wednesday’s hosts currently sit third from bottom on the A-League ladder after what has been a frustrating and disappointing campaign but they do hold a seven-point margin over their visitors, and all three points in this clash would move the Sydney-based side to within two points of 6th placed Adelaide United.
Ready for one last crack in season 2019/20 #MVFC pic.twitter.com/hNToVngGaI— Melbourne Victory (@gomvfc) August 11, 2020
Ready for one last crack in season 2019/20 #MVFC pic.twitter.com/hNToVngGaI
Inconsistency has hindered Western Sydney in their quest for a top six finish and although they’d put together a promising sequence of results previously with just one defeat from a nine-match period, recent back-to-back defeats against Perth Glory and Western United scuppered any slim hopes of a play-off spot.
However, with just one defeat from their previous five matches at home, Western Sydney will be reasonably confident that they can build upon recent wins against Adelaide United and Wellington Phoenix this Wednesday.
Onto Melbourne Victory, and as mentioned earlier, the once-great A-League outfit have experienced something of a drastic decline in fortunes of late as they occupy a second from bottom position on the A-League ladder and find themselves a significant 12 points adrift of 6th placed Adelaide United.
It’s therefore been a season which Melbourne Victory will want to forget in a hurry and having registered just two wins from their last 13 matches overall, all the signs seem to point towards another defeat on the road here for the Melbourne outfit.
That said, Melbourne Victory recorded an inexplicable 4-0 win against high-flying Perth Glory last time out in the Australian top flight, so they may present Western Sydney Wanderers with a possible threat on Wednesday evening.
Victory had previously suffered a miserable five-match losing streak though with losses incurred against Sydney FC 4-1, Wellington Phoenix 3-0, Western United 2-1, Brisbane Roar 2-1 and most disappointing of all, a 3-2 loss at home to basement dwellers, Central Coast Mariners.
It remains to be seen whether lightning can strike twice for Victory, but Western Sydney Wanderers stand a decent chance of at least avoiding defeat here and may well run out 2-1 winners in this clash.