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The A-League is back in action with another round of matches this weekend as Melbourne City take on Wellington Phoenix on Saturday. The two teams have experienced contrasting fortunes this season and will want to win this game.
Wellington Phoenix are in seventh place in the A-League standings and have been inconsistent so far this season. The New Zealand-based outfit played out a 1-1 draw against Sydney FC last week and will look to take it up a notch in this fixture.
Melbourne City, on the other hand, are in second place in the league table at the moment and have been impressive this season. The reigning champions were held to a 2-2 draw by Perth Glory in their previous game and will need to bounce back this weekend.
Wellington Phoenix vs Melbourne City Head-to-Head
Melbourne City have a good record against Wellington Phoenix and have won 15 out of 34 matches played between the two teams. Wellington Phoenix have managed 11 victories against Melbourne City and will look to cut the deficit on Sunday.
The previous meeting between the two teams took place in May last year and ended in a 2-2 draw. Both teams were poor on the day and will need to be more robust this weekend.
Wellington Phoenix form guide in the A-League: D-W-D-W-W
Melbourne City form guide in the A-League: D-W-W-W-L
Wellington Phoenix vs Melbourne City Team News
Wellington Phoenix
Oliver Sail has recovered from his injury and has been impressive in recent weeks. Gary Hooper is injured and will be ruled out of the match against Melbourne City on Saturday.
Injured: Gary Hooper
Doubtful: Oskar van Hattum
Unavailable: None
Melbourne City
Stefan Colakovski has recovered from his illness and could feature in this game. Melbourne City are unlikely to make drastic changes to their team going into this match.
Injured: None
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Wellington Phoenix vs Melbourne City Predicted XI
Wellington Phoenix Predicted XI (4-4-2): Alex Paulsen; Sam Sutton, Joshua Laws, Tim Payne, Louis Fenton; Alex Rufer, Clayton Lewis, Reno Piscopo, Jaushua Sotirio; Ben Waine, David Ball
Melbourne City Predicted XI (4-3-3): Tom Glover; Scott Galloway, Rostyn Griffiths, Curtis Good, Scott Jamieson; Aiden O'Neill, Connor Metcalfe, Florin Berenguer; Mathew Leckie, Andrew Nabbout, Jamie Maclaren
Wellington Phoenix vs Melbourne City Prediction
Melbourne City have stuttered this season but have managed to improve in recent weeks. The away side is back with a largely full-strength side this week and has a point to prove in this fixture.
Wellington Phoenix can be a formidable team on their day but have issues to address going into this game. Melbourne City are the better team at the moment and should be able to win this match.
Prediction: Wellington Phoenix 1-2 Melbourne City
