Sydney FC Vs Melbourne City
Sunday 30 August 2020 – 09:30 Kick-Off
Australian A-League
Pick: Melbourne City Draw No Bet
Odds: 11/10
Bookmaker: BetVictor
(All betting odds correct at time of writing: 28 August 2020)
Preview: We’re down to the final two in Australia’s Final Series, with Sunday’s Grand Final comprising of teams who finished in first and second in this season’s A-League. Can Melbourne City celebrate winning a maiden final appearance or will the wealth of experience Sydney FC boast prove decisive at Bankwest Stadium in Sydney?
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Table of Contents
Sydney FC Preview – Experience to trump pre-finals slump?
The Sky Blues sure know how to clutch up when it truly matters. Steve Corica’s side came into these Final Series in arguably the worst shape out of all six teams to have made it this far, closing out the regular season in top spot – six points clear of runners-up and final opponents Melbourne City – despite only managing a solitary win across their six post-restart fixtures.
In fact, Sydney FC (1st – W16 D5 L5) hadn’t sampled that winning feeling for five consecutive A-League matches (D2 L3) prior to facing Perth Glory, the side who topped the A-League standings at the end of the 2018-19 regular season, in Wednesday’s semi-final. This wasn’t in evidence at Bankwest Stadium, however, when, with less than half-an-hour of the contest gone, four-time Final Series champs Sydney had already established a 2-0 lead.
It proved an unassailable lead, holding on without incurring too many scares to ensure serene progress into a record-equalling 11th Grand Final. And as the defending champions, Sydney can now become the most successful club in Final Series history outright on Sunday. They can also become only the second side to successfully defend the title, after Brisbane Roar clinched back-to-back titles in 2011 and 2012.
Melbourne City Preview – Mombaerts’ City side peaking ahead of final?
A maiden Grand Final appearance beckons for Melbourne City (2nd – W14 D5 L7) whose dogged persistence, having fallen agonisingly short at the semi-final stage in four of the past five seasons, has at long last bore fruit. Meanwhile, a victory on Sunday would cap an outstanding campaign under head coach Erick Mombaerts after the Frenchman guided the club to its best-ever points total of 47 to finish in second.
Of course, the team who would end up pipping them to top spot were Sunday’s final opponents Sydney FC. Yet City, who would avenge the 2-1 loss suffered away to Sydney in December by winning the pair’s recent duel 2-0 inside a neutral venue three weeks ago, will have nothing to fear. Particularly as it was they who finished the season the stronger, going unbeaten in their three post-restart matches (W2 L1).
Their semi-final with Western United was an altogether more tense affair. With neither side conjuring up a breakthrough in the opening period it was left to Jamie Maclaren – the A-League top scorer with 22 strikes, two more than Syndey FC’s Adam Le Fondre – to lash home a penalty on 68 minutes before a late own goal eased any late nerves. A third win in four since the resumption, having lost one of their last nine (W6 D2 L1).
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Sydney FC Vs Melbourne City Betting Advice
There can be no doubt as to which of these sides arrives in the better shape. Sydney FC are the reigning Final Series champions, while their vastly superior experience, with this their tenth Grand Final, clearly counts for a lot. However, Steve Corica’s side have rather ambled since the restart with their record of two wins from seven post-restart matches faring unfavourably to Melbourne City‘s three wins in four over this same period.
Sydney FC vs Melbourne City – Key Facts
- Since the A-League resumption in mid-July, Sydney FC have played seven times across league and Final Series and won only twice (W2 D2 L3).
- Three wins and no defeats since the restart for Melbourne City, whose first match back was their 2-0 victory over Sydney FC at the neutral ANZ Stadium.
- The pair traded wins across 2019-20. Sydney FC winning 2-1 at home in December with Melbourne City exacting revenge as recently as August in that aforementioned triumph.
Even more compelling was the outcome of their August clash on neutral territory, which Melbourne City dominated to secure a comfortable 2-0 victory. Admittedly, Sydney FC had little to play for, and their results since the restart aligned with this fact, however, to have gotten the better of their upcoming opponents so recently can only inspire a tremendous amount of belief. Form isn’t like a tap, either. Melbourne City 2-1.
Sydney FC Vs Melbourne City
Sydney FC – 6/4 (Betway)
Draw – 5/2 (Bet365)
Melbourne City – 2/1 (BetVictor)
