Quick Look |
There’s now just seven points between the top seven sides in the Westfield W-League, with 1st meeting 7th in this clash as Melbourne Victory visit Canberra United at Seiffert Oval.
It will be the Victory’s first return to the capital since their 5-1 defeat on the final weekend of Season Nine, but Jeff Hopkins’ side have looked one of the best in the competition for much of the season and represent a strong challenge to United’s undefeated home record here.
Key Bits |
It’s another must win game for Canberra United this week with finals still an outside chance, and it is against a Melbourne Victory side who have been one of the frontrunners this season.
United’s win against Adelaide on Sunday ensured that the undefeated streak at home remained intact this season, with five games seeing three wins and two draws at McKellar Park so far.
This rivalry has been historically tight with 19 games between the two sides resulting in nine United wins, three draws and seven wins for the Victory.
The Victory have lost only twice this season, to Adelaide and Brisbane, so United will have their work cut out from the beginning against a strong side.
The hosts will be without Maria Jose Rojas and South African duo Refiloe Jane and Rhoda Mulaudzi as they link up with their national teams before returning for the clash with Brisbane next weekend.
The teams have not met since Round One last season, and the last time Victory were in Canberra they were handed a 5-1 thrashing in the final round of the 2016/17 campaign as United secured the Premiership.
The Victory have only ever won twice in Canberra in a total of nine meetings, with United winning six and the two sides unable to be separated on one occasion.
The occasion is doubly exciting for Karly Roestbakken, who turns 18 on Thursday and she will be hoping for three points as a way to cap off the day.
From the Coach |
On Melbourne Victory…
“Victory have shown that they are a quality side at both end of the park. They’ve got plenty of goalscorers and have proved to be potent up top, the link between Christine Nairn and Natasha Dowie is a very strong one. But the W-League is anyone’s game at the moment, so who knows. We have three international players who are out but it’s great that some of the local girls now get an opportunity to run out there. That makes me happy because they’ve worked as hard as anybody else and we’re using almost the whole squad.”
Squads |
Canberra United squad: 1.Melissa MAIZELS (gk), 2.Laura HUGHES, 4.Rachel CORSIE (c), 5.Nikola ORGILL, 8.Olivia PRICE, 12.Lauren KEIR, 13.Meaghan McELLIGOTT, 14.Ashleigh SYKES, 15.Rosie GALEA, 16.Karly ROESTBAKKEN, 17.Maddy WHITTALL, 18.Taren KING, 19.Nickoletta FLANNERY, 20.Shamiran KHAMIS (gk), 21.Ellie CARPENTER,
Ins: 12.Lauren KEIR (Promoted), 15.Rosie GALEA (Promoted), 17.Maddy WHITTALL (Promoted)
Outs: 6.Refiloe JANE (International Duty), 9.Rhoda MULADZI (International Duty), 23.Maria JOSE ROJAS (International Duty)
Unavailable: 3.Natasha PRIOR (Head – Season)
Melbourne Victory squad: 1.Casey DUMONT (gk), 3.Teigan ALLEN, 5.Laura ALLEWAY, 6.Annabel MARTIN, 7.Christine NAIRN, 8.Angela BEARD, 9.Natasha DOWIE (c), 10.Kyra COONEY-CROSS, 11.MelindaJ BARBIERI, 14.Melina AYRES, 15.Emily GIELNIK, 16.Samantha JOHNSON, 17.Danielle WEATHERHOLT, 18.Grace MAHER, 19.Lia PRIVITELLI, 20.Bethany MASON-JONES (gk), 21.Ella MASTRANTONIO
**two to be omitted**
Ins: 10.Kyra COONEY-CROSS (promoted), 11.MelindaJ BARBIERI (promoted)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: Nil
Match Details |
Westfield W-League Round 12
Canberra United v Melbourne Victory
Seiffert Oval, Queanbeyan
Thursday, 17th January – 7:30pm kick-off (AEDT)
Live on Fox Sports
#CBRvMVC on Twitter
