Head-to-head

Played 3: Melbourne Victory 2, North Queensland Fury 1

Previous Meeting
Melbourne Victory 2, North Queensland Fury 0, Etihad Stadium, February 2010

History
There has been little between these two sides in the three matches they have played against one another so far. The two trips to Townsville last year resulted in the teams splitting the matches, both 1-0, but Carlos Hernandez stamped his class all over their most recent match, scoring twice as Melbourne prevailed 2-0.

Season So Far
Melbourne Victory: DL
North Queensalnd: DW

Match Committee
Billy Celeski sent a massive scare through the Melbourne camp this week when he collapsed on his previously reconstructed knee at training. It turned out only to be a sprain, but he will miss at least this match. In comes Robbie Kruse, back from a couple of weeks off with a hamstring injury while new signing Geoff Kellaway is included in an extended squad along with Matthew Foschini.

There is little to take from Fury's squad announcement with five players brought in by Franz Straka and none omitted. Included among them are new signing Brad McDonald as well as veteran Jason Spagnuolo.

Danger men
Robbie Kruse - Melbourne sorely missed the young striker last week as they failed to conjure anything of note during a disappointing 2-0 home loss to Perth Glory. Kruse may have missed the past two matches but his fitness shouldn’t be an issue having trained well during the week.

Dyron Daal - Daal came on as a substitute last week and scored a crucial late goal as North Queensland scored a dramatic 2-1 win over Sydney. There are clearly two Dyron Daals, the one who can torment teams and the one who is largely invisible for great parts of the games. He scored against Melbourne last year and will be looking to punish any sluggish Melbourne defence on Sunday.

At the end of the day….
Ladder says North Queensland, logic says Melbourne. Fury caused a minor sensation with their win over Sydney last week, while it is clear that in Franz Straka they have a coach who can liven up the place.

Looking at their team list it's hard to see how they can beat the defending champions, but there is clearly plenty of positive energy flowing up in the tropics at the moment. Will that energy be enough to overcome Victory on a cold winter's Melbourne day? Probably not.

Victory were disappointing despite a mountain of possession last week and need to start creating some decent chances around goals. Kruse's return is a big boost, while the arrival of Brazilian Ricardinho, set to make his debut in the next few weeks, would have put the other attacking players on notice. Expect Melbourne to take the points comfortably here.

TEAMS:
Melbourne Victory Squad: 1.Michael PETKOVIC (gk), 2.Kevin MUSCAT (c), 3.Mate DUGANDZIC, 5. Surat SUKHA, 6. Leigh BROXHAM, 8.Grant BREBNER, 11.Marvin ANGULO, 12.Rodrigo VARGAS, 13.Diogo FERREIRA, 15.Tom PONDELJAK, 16.Carlos HERNANDEZ, 17.Matthew FOSCHINI, 19.Evan BERGER, 20.Sebastian MATTEI (gk), 21.Robbie KRUSE, 22.Nick WARD, 23.Adrian LEIJER, 27. Geoff KELLAWAY
*three to be omitted*

In: Geoff KELLAWAY (new signing), Robbie KRUSE (returns from injury), Matthew FOSCHINI (promoted)
Out: Billy CELESKI (knee – 2 weeks)
Unavailable: Archie THOMPSON (knee - indefinite), Matthew KEMP (knee - indefinite)

North Queensland Fury squad: 1. Justin PASFIELD (gk), 2. Jack HINGERT, 3. Brad McDONALD, 4. Eric AKOTO, 5. Mark HUGHES, 6. Ufuk TALAY (c), 7. Gareth EDDS, 8. Adam CASEY, 9. Eugene SSEPPUYA, 10. Dyron DAAL, 11. David WILLIAMS, 12. Panagiotis NIKAS, 14. Chris GROSSMAN, 15. Chris PAYNE, 16. Simon STOREY, 17. Osama MALIK, 18. Brett STUDMAN, 19. Isaka CERNAK, 20. Matthew HAM (gk), 21. Jason SPAGNUOLO

*five to be omitted*

In: Brad McDONALD (new signing), Panagiotis NIKAS (promoted), Jack HINGERT (promoted), Brett STUDMAN (promoted), Jason SPAGNUOLO (promoted)
Out: Nil
Unavailable: 13. Andre KILIAN (foot injury - 2-3 weeks)