Melbourne Victory will welcome Newcastle Jets to the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium in their final A-League match of the regular season on Sunday. Victory can still finish second in the standings as long as Melbourne City, Western Sydney Wanderers, and Western United lose their games. Newcastle will look to conclude their league campaign with a win.
The hosts lost 2-0 at home to Premiers Auckland last month and bounced back with a 2-1 away win over Macarthur last week. Ryan Teague and Kasey Bos added goals in the first half to give them a two-goal lead and Chris Ikonomidis bagged a consolation goal for Macarthur.
The visitors have seen a drop in form, winning just one of their last six league games. They suffered a second consecutive loss last week, falling to a 1-0 home loss to the Western Sydney Wanderers. They failed to score for the first time since December and will look to return to goal-scoring ways.
Big V have won three of their last four games, scoring 10 goals, and will look to continue that prolific run here. This is a must-win match for them, as a win here will keep their slim hopes of finishing second in the league table alive and might help them secure the coveted berth in the AFC Champions League Elite phase.
The Jets have lost three of their last four games and failed to score after 18 games last week. Notably, five of their eight wins in the league this season have been registered away from home.
Big V have won their last two home meetings against the Jets, and considering the visitors' drop in form, we back Victory to come out on top here.
Prediction: Melbourne Victory 2-1 Newcastle Jets
Tip 1: Result - Melbourne Victory to win
Tip 2: Goals - Over/Under 2.5 Goals - Over 2.5 goals
Tip 3: Both teams to score - Yes
Tip 4: At least a goal to be scored in the second half - Yes