Melbourne Victory v Melbourne City: A-League Saturday Preview

Third entertains fourth when Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City face off in the big derby clash on Saturday night.

Victory sit just one place and one point above City, but have played one game more as we approach the business end of the A-League season.

Both sides are still in with a sniff of catching Adelaide United in second spot, so there is more than local pride at stake.

Victory and City enter the game on a high after wins in their games last weekend, but on the whole, Victory have been in better form in recent weeks.

The form book can go out of the window in this derby clash though when both sides will be pumped up to get the three points.

Melbourne Victory v Melbourne City betting preview

Victory in top form

Melbourne Victory head in to the derby clash in good form after winning three of the last four matches.

They kept three cleans sheets in those wins, beating both Sydney and Perth Glory 2-0, and Wellington Phoenix 1-0.

There was one big blip, a 3-0 defeat away at the Newcastle Jets, and they will be hoping that was just a freak result.

They got back on track against Wellington Phoenix, with Nikos Vergos grabbing the only goal of the game, his second strike in the last three games.

Vergos was also on the score sheet back in October when Victory beat City 3-1 in the first meeting of the season.

They also fought out a 1-1 draw in the lead up to Christmas, and another tight battle could be on the cards on Saturday.

Indeed four of the last six games between the two sides have ended in a draw. Two finished 1-1, the other two goalless.

City snap losing streak

Melbourne City had been on a poor run of form, losing three games on the bounce, failing to score a goal in the process.

They were hardly convincing when they snapped the streak with a 1-0 home win over struggling Perth Glory at the weekend.

Even so, a win is a win, and they will be hoping it gives them the spark they need to go on a good run at a crucial stage in the season.

Scoring goals has been an issue for them, scoring just two in the last five games, and they will need to put that right if they are to have a successful end to the season.

At least their defence has been tight, conceding just 15 goals all season. Only Auckland FC have conceded less with 12.

They will be out to keep it tight against Victory and then hope they can nick one at the other end.

Young gun Lawrence Wong made the headlines with a stunning strike against Glory, making him the youngest City player to score an A-League goal.

The 17-year-old will be hoping it is the first of many more.

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Melbourne Victory v Melbourne City odds

Melbourne Victory - 2.00
Draw - 3.80
Melbourne City - 3.40

View the full market and more odds for Australia v England on site.

This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.