Round 3: Perth Glory v Melbourne Victory Preview

In the re-match of last season's controversial semi final, Perth Glory host the Melbourne Victory in Round 3's Match of the Round

After a strong opening round win against the Newcastle Jets, Perth Glory suffered their first defeat with a 0-3 loss to the Brisbane Roar.  Despite the score line Perth were well and truly in the match and only strong goalkeeping from Roar custodian Kate Stewart denied the home team.

The Melbourne Victory bounced back from a humbling round one defeat to champions Sydney FC with a run of the mill 2-0 win over Adelaide United.  Lisa De Vanna notched up her first goal for the Victory when she converted a penalty and Caitlin Friend continued her remarkable scoring record against the Lady Reds.

In attack the Glory have a plethora of options with Canadian Christina Julien slotting in nicely to the attack.  While the loss of Kate Gill is a blow, she is ably replaced by Rosie Sutton who, in this corresponding Breast Cancer Fundraising fixture, netted a hattrick.

Add the Matildas returning Collette McCallum, Elisa D'Vidio, Marianna Tabain and Ella Mastrantonio and the Glory could pose several problems for a new knitted Melbourne defence.  Defensively however, the Glory have had a very shaky start to the season and will be tested against one of the best strikers in the world. A strong performance from the Chantel Jones and her defence will need to be the building block of a Glory win.

The Victory on the other hand enter this match with renewed confidence.  However injury and unavailability has forced Dave Edmondson's hand in relation to selection.  The big inclusion is Wales captain Jessica Fishlock.

How much game time the well traveled midfield dynamo can muster will go a long way to this result.  With Perth's achilles their defence, De Vanna will be key as will her strike partners Caitlin Friend, Enza Barilla and Laura Spiranovic.  Coming in for the injury Brianna Davey, Victory will be looking for another assured effort between the sticks by Cassandra Dimovski. While captain Steph Catley and Jessica Samuelsson will need to once again lead the defence against the coming Glory attack.

The last time these two sides met was that semi final which finished 1-1 after regulation time after Laura Spiranovic opened the scoring and Collette McCallum equalised after a disputed free kick. More drama was to be hand when in the penalty shoot out, in the match winning penalty, Perth Glory goalkeeper Caitlyn Savage's save was denied for encroaching and Melbourne's Jessica McDonald converted the retaken penalty to send them into the grand final.

Head to Head: Perth 3, Melbourne 5, Draw 1

Perth Glory v Melbourne Victory

Sunday 1 December 2013

nib Stadium, Perth

Local kick-off: 12 midday (3pm AEDT)

** Catch all the action Live* at 3.00pm on ABC1. Or catch up from Monday on ABC iView with a full replay at 3.30am on Thursday (*live in AEDT states)

Perth Glory squad: 1. Chantel JONES (gk), 2. Sarah CARROLL, 3. Cecilie SANDVEJ, 4. Bronwyn STUDMAN, 5. Shannon MAY, 6. Sasha ANDREWS, 8. Ella MASTRANTONIO, 9. Rosie SUTTON, 13. Elisa D’OVIDIO, 14. Collette McCALLUM, 15. Jess DILLON, 16. Thia EASTMAN, 17. Marianna TABAIN, 18. Amy KNIGHTS, 19. Shawn BILLAM, 20. Kathleen WAYCOTT (gk), 21. Christina JULIEN (two to be omitted)

Ins: Jess Dillon, Thia Eastman, Amy Knights (all promoted)

Outs: Kate Gill (illness - indefinite)

Unavailable: Aivi Luik (hamstring – indefinite), Kat Jukic (groin – indefinite)

Melbourne Victory squad: 3. Jessica Humble 4. Katie Hoyle 5. Laura Spiranovic 6. Cindy Lay 7. Stephanie Catley (c) 9. Caitlin Friend 10. Jessica Fishlock 11. Lisa De Vanna 12. Jessica Samuelsson 13. Tiffany Eliadis 14. Enza Barilla 15. Emma Checker 16. Beatrice Goad 17. Gulcan Koca 19. Alexandra Natoli, 20. Cassandra Dimovski (GK), 30. Melissa Maizels (GK) (two to be omitted)

Ins: Jessica Fishlock (Seattle Reign, USA), Laura Spiranovic, Tiffany Eliadis, Melissa Maizels (all promoted)

Outs: Brianna Davey (glute 1-2 weeks), Emily Hulbert (glandular fever)

Unavailable: Ashley Brown (knee – 1 week), Rebekah Stott (overseas – 4 weeks)