Date: Saturday December 6
Kick-off: 6:00pm local (8:00 pm AEDT)
Venue: Members Equity Stadium
TV and Radio:
Head-to-head
10 Hyundai A-League meetings: Perth - 2 wins, Melbourne - 4 wins, Draws - 4.
Previous meeting
Melbourne 4, Perth 0, Telstra Dome, Round 7, September 2008
Past Five Games
Perth Glory:
Round 9: Adelaide Utd 2, Perth Glory 1, Hindmarsh Stadium
Round 10: Perth Glory 2, Wellington Phoenix 0, Members Equity Stadium
Round 11: Perth Glory 2, Newcastle Jets 2, Members Equity Stadium
Round 12: Queensland Roar 4, Perth Glory 1, Suncorp Stadium
Round 13: Perth Glory 2, Central Coast Mariners 2, Members Equity Stadium
Melbourne Victory:
Round 9: Melbourne Victory 0, Sydney FC 2, Telstra Dome
Round 10: Adelaide United 2, Melbourne Victory 3, Hindmarsh Stadium
Round 11: Queensland Roar 0, Melbourne Victory 1, Suncorp Stadium
Round 12: Melbourne 2, Central Coast Mariners 1, Telstra Dome
Round 13: Wellington Phoenix 2, Melbourne Victory 1, Westpac Stadium
Analysis
It's last versus first but this is shaping as the biggest match of the season for the Perth Glory. The Western Australians desperately need a win to keep pace with the top four but they're coming up against the table-topping Melbourne Victory on the rebound.
Fortunately for Perth, the Victory are on the second leg of a marathon two-week road trip where they played in Wellington one week before fronting up in Perth the next. It's been a tough few weeks for Ernie Merrick's men as this will be their fourth away trip in five matches and it might just be starting to show as the Victorians appeared particularly lacklustre in last week's 2-1 loss to the Phoenix.
The bad news for Perth, though, is the Victory have a full list of players to choose from, as midfielder Evan Berger returns to the squad after suffering a hamstring strain. Berger looked in terrific touch as he ran rings around the Glory's midfield during the Pre-season cup hit out at Members Equity Stadium in July, but Victory coach Ernie Merrick may opt to be more cautious with the youngster in this match, potentially bringing him on as a substitute for Grant Brebner, who's looked out of sorts the last two matches and been substituted at half-time on both occasions.
On paper there seems a significant gulf in class between the two sides. Perth's defence has been strengthened by the inclusion of centre back David Tarka and left back Naum Sekulovski to the squad while left midfielder Scott Bulloch has also been promoted from the National Youth League. But the club will be without Brazilian midfielder Amaral (knee) and star defender Harden Foxe (leg) for one more match and this could ultimately prove particularly costly for the Western Australians.
Foxe's inclusion for this match would be an enormous boost, as the Glory's leaky defence, which conceded another disastrous injury-time equaliser against the Mariners last weekend, could certainly use his expert reading of the play as it attempts to counter the Victory's Archie Thompson, Danny Allsopp and Ney Fabiano.
But at least the Glory will have its best structure in place as Sekulovski will presumably slot in at left back, allowing Dino Djulbic to