Head-to-head:

Played 15: Wins: Brisbane Roar 4, Melbourne Victory 9, Draws: 2

Previous Meeting:
Melbourne Victory 3-0 Brisbane Roar 0 at AAMI Park, September 2010

History:
While Brisbane are flying high so far this season in second spot having lost just once (against Victory), a clash with Ernie Merrick's side has never been one they look to with great optimism. Roar haven't beaten Victory in over two years, a run of six matches dating back to September 2008. The stretch has included five Melbourne wins and one draw, a memorable 3-3 encounter at Etihad Stadium. The two sides met earlier this year with Victory posting a comfortable 3-0 home win with goals all in the second half from Ricardinho, Tom Pondeljak and Grant Brebner.

Past five matches:Brisbane Roar: DWWDW
Melbourne Victory: DDDLW

Match Committee:
All of the Roar team came through Wednesday night's win over Central Coast unscathed but coach Ange Postecoglou has promoted four players - Matt Mundy, Rocky Visconte, Luke Bratten and James Meyer to his squad for Saturday's night's game. It's understood only tiredness to some of his players from their third match in a week would see any changes to the final squad. Brazilian Henrique remains the club's only injury absentee with a broken arm.

It's a similar situation for Victory with Merrick also having no fresh injury concerns following the club's best performance of the season in last weekend's 3-0 win over Sydney FC. The Victory boss is unlikely to make any changes but he's keeping his options open by naming Surat Sukha, Peter Franjic, Diogo Ferreira and Marvin Angulo in an extended squad.

Danger men:
Eric Paartalu - Paartalu might not have the attacking flair of team-mates like Thomas Broich, Matt McKay and Kosta Barbarouses but he just as important to Roar's chances of success. He has the thankless task of anchoring the side's midfield, which allows those around him to do their bit further forward. Paartalu's ball-winning ability and distribution has been a highlight for Roar during their strong start to the season.

Carlos Hernandez - He might have been copping a bit of stick for a slow start to the season but the Costa Rican is clearly back to his best after an impressive display in the win over Sydney last week. Hernandez was simply brilliant against the Sky Blues as he tormented the defending champions all night, scoring one goal and laying on another for Rody Vargas. If he can reproduce that effort against Roar then the visitors will be very hard to stop.

At the end of the day….
Brisbane have been consistent in their performances and quality of play all season but are finally starting to add the one thing that had been missing in the early part of the campaign - goals. After only hitting the back of the net three times in the first five games, Roar have found their shooting boots of late with nine goals in their last four matches, including big wins over Heart (4-0) and Mariners (2-0).

Both these sides are equipped with wonderful attacking players and like to play with a bit of flair which should ensure plenty of goal-mouth action for fans at Suncorp. Melbourne will be full of confidence after their big win last week and should be fresher having had a few more days off.

Expect there to be a few goals in this one and despite Roar's lofty position, Victory should continue their unbeaten run against Brisbane. With these sides looking evenly matched, a draw looms as a strong possibility.

Teams: 
Brisbane Roar: 1. Michael THEOKLITOS (gk), 2. Matt SMITH, 3. Luke DEVERE, 4. Shane STEFANUTTO, 5. Ivan FRANJIC, 6. Erik PAARTALU, 7. Kosta BARBAROUSES, 8. Massimo MURDOCCA, 9. Jean Carlos SOLORZANO, 11. REINALDO, 12. Matt MUNDY, 14. Rocky VISCONTE, 15. Matt McKAY (c), 17. Mitch NICHOLS, 18. Luke BRATTAN, 20. Andrew REDMAYNE (gk), 21. James MEYER, 22. Thomas BROICH, 23. Milan SUSAK (four to be omitted)

In: Matt MUNDY (promoted), Rocky VISCONTE (promoted), Luke BRATTAN (promoted), James MEYER (promoted)
Out: Nil
Unavailable: HENRIQUE (broken arm – indefinite)

Melbourne Victory: 1.Michael PETKOVIC (gk), 2. Kevin MUSCAT (c), 3. Mate DUGANDZIC, 4. Petar FRANJIC, 5.Surat SUKHA, 6. Leigh BROXHAM, 8.Grant BREBNER, 9.RICARDINHO, 11.Marvin ANGULO, 12.Rodrigo VARGAS, 13. Diogo FERREIRA, 14. Billy CELESKI, 15.Tom PONDELJAK, 16.Carlos HERNANDEZ, 19. Evan BERGER, 20.Sebastian MATTEI (gk), 21. Robbie KRUSE 23. Adrian LEIJER, 27. Geoff KELLAWAY (four to be omitted)

In: Surat SUKHA (returns from injury), Petar FRANJIC (promoted), Diogo FERREIRA (promoted), Marvin ANGULO (promoted)
Out: Nil
Unavailable: Archie THOMPSON (knee – indefinite), Matthew KEMP (knee – indefinite)