Good afternoon Victory fans! Well, another match day is upon us and what a game its set to be tonight, away to Adelaide with a sell-out crowd confirmed. With us drawing with Sydney last week and United going down to Perth 1-0, both teams will be desperate for the three points.

Adelaide may have lost their first game of the season but they’re always dangerous at home and they have an excellent squad this year. This won’t be a walk in the park by any means. I’m tipping a very close game that could go either way. I can see us losing this match but I can equally see us taking all three points. Shootout anyone?

Looking at the teams then and the Victory have named a 20 man squad with five to be omitted:

2. Matthew Foschini, 3. Fabio, 4. Petar Franjic, 6. Leigh Broxham, 7. Matthew Kemp, 8. Grant Brebner, 9. Jean Carlos Solorzano, 10. Archie Thompson, 11. Marco Rojas, 12. Rodrigo Vargas, 13. Diogo Ferreira, 15. Tom Pondeljak, 16.Carlos Hernandez, 17. Jimmy Jeggo, 19. Isaka Cernak, 20. Lawrence Thomas (GK), 21. Ante Covic (GK), 22. Harry Kewell, 23. Adrian Leijer (c)

Carlos Hernandez comes straight in after returning from international duty and Diego Ferriera is also in contention. Conveniently, Billy Celeski has been left out due to a corked thigh but I doubt his performance last week would have earned him a place in the squad this week anyway. Danny Allsopp hasn’t made the cut either which is understandable. He played very poorly last week and just didn’t offer what we needed.

As for how the team will line up, my prediction last week was pretty close apart from the surprise inclusions of Celeski and Allsopp. I think the core of the squad will be much the same vs Adelaide but the changes will be very important. Mehmet Durakovic hinted this week that Hernandez may play up front but personally I’d like to see him in the middle of the park, holding the ball up and playing through balls. We need more pace closer to goal and Solorzano will definitely give us that tonight. Here’s what I’m thinking:

Covic – Foschini – Leijer – Vargas – Fabio – Brebner – Hernandez – Rojas – Kewell – Thompson – Solorzano.

I would love to see Cernak get a start this week as he showed against Sydney he deserves it, but I think he can also be a great impact player off the bench.

Adelaide are without Daniel Mullen and Nigel Boogaard while Dario Vidosic comes into the side having been left out of the squad that travelled to Perth. Those outs won’t matter much though. The Reds still have plenty of talent, especially up front and thats what worries me heading into this game. Our defence is still a big concern for me so I’m wondering how we’ll cope with the likes of Bruce Djite and Sergio Van Dijk. They’re just a slight step up from Mark Bridge and Bruno Cazarine. If anything, we at least have the firepower up front to match. Lets hope the lads have their shooting boots on.

Don’t forget, kick off is 8pm tonight, Melbourne time. To all the traveling Victory supporters, have fun over there, make plenty of noise and do us proud. Talk to you on Twitter for all the build up.

Come on Melbourne!