Tony Popovic is relishing the prospect of Sunday’s huge top-of-the-table clash with Melbourne Victory at AAMI Park (Kick Off at 5pm).
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Ladder-leaders Glory will face the second-placed navy-and-whites for a second time this season looking to repeat their 3-2 triumph at the same venue back in Round 2.
And the club’s Head Coach believes that the return fixture will mark a change in the dynamic between the two clubs.
“In Round Two it was probably a bigger game for us than it was for them,” he said.
“In the past, Melbourne Victory has always been a big game for Perth Glory. Now Perth Glory is a big game for Victory, so it should be a great game.
“It’s clear; if we win, we go seven points ahead of them. We had a great game against Victory in Round Two and we know that this another big occasion, another big game.
“Victory have picked up a lot of results, they score regularly and have many dangerous players on the park.
“It’s a club that when you looked at their line-up at the start of the season, you expected them to be challenging and they are challenging.
“They are a fantastic club, it will be a great atmosphere and they are a very good team.
“We’re taking ourselves to Melbourne and we are also a very good team and we are certainly looking forward to a big challenge. We feel that if we perform to our maximum, we give ourselves a chance.”
Glory will travel east looking to defend an unbeaten record on the road this term, while Kevin Muscat’s men will be aiming to extend their own fine recent run of form which has seen them lose just once in their last 15 outings.
In terms of early team news, Japanese marquee man Keizuke Honda could make his return from injury for the hosts, while Tomislav Mrcela may come back into contention for the visitors.
Match Details
Sunday, 10 February 2019
Melbourne Victory v Perth Glory
AAMI Park, Melbourne
Kick-Off: 5:00PM (Local) (5:00PM (AEDT))
Referee: Jarred Gillett
Assistant Referee 1: Wilson Brown
Assistant Referee 2: Andrew Meimarakis
Fourth Official: Jonathan Barreiro
VAR: Kris Griffiths-Jones
TV Broadcast: Live coverage on FOX SPORTS 505 from 4.30pm (AEDT), Sky Sport 4 (New Zealand) and MyFootball Live App, Live Fast and Data Free for Telstra mobile customers
Radio Broadcast: myfootballnation.com (1116SEN, 2SM Super Radio and 6PR). ABC News on Radio, Grandstand Digital, Online & via the ABC Listen App – A-League Live.
Join the conversation on Twitter using the hash tag #MVCvPER
To purchase tickets visit www.a-league.com.au/tickets
Melbourne Victory squad: 1.Matt ACTON (GK), 2.Storm ROUX, 3.Corey BROWN, 4. Keisuke HONDA, 5. Georg NIEDERMEIER, 6.Leigh BROXHAM, 7.Kenny ATHIU, 8.Terry ANTONIS, 9.Kosta BARBAROUSES, 10.James TROISI, 11.Ola TOIVONEN, 14.Tommy DENG, 15.Raul BAENA, 16.Josh HOPE, 17. James DONACHIE, 20.Lawrence THOMAS (GK), 24.Elvis KAMSOBA, 25.Anthony LESIOTIS **two to be omitted**
Ins: 2. Storm ROUX (return from injury), 4. Keisuke HONDA (return form injury), 17. James DONACHIE (promoted)
Outs: 21. Carl VALERI (injury)
Unavailable: Jai INGHAM (quad – TBC)
Perth Glory squad: 1.Tando VELAPHI (gk), 3.Jason DAVIDSON, 4.Shane LOWRY, 5.Ivan FRANJIC, 6.Dino DJULBIC, 7.Joel CHIANESE, 9.Andy KEOGH, 11.Brendon SANTALAB, 13.Matthew SPIRANOVIC, 16.Tomislav MRCELA, 17.Diego CASTRO, 19.Chris IKONOMIDIS, 20.Jake BRIMMER, 22.Fabio FERREIRA, 23.Scott NEVILLE, 27.JUANDE, 33.Liam REDDY (gk), 88.Neil KILKENNY
**two to be omitted**
Ins: 16.Tomislav MRCELA, 22.Fabio FERREIRA,
Outs: None
Unavailable: 2.Alex GRANT (thigh – 1 week)
#OneGlory
