VICTORY READY FOR ADELAIDE

Melbourne Victory are set to clash against Adelaide United in the FFA Cup on Wednesday night. The performance will depend largely on star players James Troisi and Mark Milligan in the Round of 16 game. The Socceroos star would need to be in high spirit to deliver as they are days away from one of their biggest games in the international scene. Coach Ange Postecoglou names his final 23-man shortlist on Wednesday.

Melbourne should have all the major players available for selection for the FFA Cup game bar Argentine Matias Sanchez who is yet to sort out his visa issues. Carl Valeri skippered the recent friendly against Oakleigh so he should be available for the match.

Victory coach Kevin Muscat says the duo of Troisi and Milligan should be ready for the game as they were fit following the preseason action. He says they came “in very good condition” after the short break so he played them in Brisbane after just few days of training.

Muscat adds that the players would not be distracted ahead of the game, and that playing before the international break this time was not advantage. He is happy that the team get to use the players now and that they would worry about the break later. If you fancy a Melbourne win, you can search for the best sites to get you the most bang for your buck – they are trading at as high as 5/1 for the big match on some websites!

On the pitch conditions at Perry Park, the manager praised his team for playing decently in the “ridiculous circumstances.” He refused to worry much, preferring to build on the “good base” from Brisbane. The plan is just to get past the current round for now – the odds are stacked in their favour right now, so you might need bonuskoodi to get a good return on any stake you put up.

The game is set to happen at the Marden Sports Complex at Adelaide. In other games, South Melbourne will play Sorrento FC while Sydney United will face Heidelberg. Though Heidelberg are arguably the best non A-League side, they face a tough game against Sydney. They are weary as well so playing a resolute Sydney side away from home is too close to predict.

South Melbourne are the favourites but it won’t be easy against Sorrento. Victory for South means they would clash with an A-League side in the next stage.

For Victory, Troisi will play a major role as they are the favourite to win despite being far from home. Troisi says he could have been playing for the other side Adelaide. During his off-season there were reports that he agreed to join Israeli side Maccabi Haifa and that he agreed because of the money. The 29-year old says Adelaide wanted him but he opted to rejoin Victory.

“There were a number of clubs in the A-League not just Victory and Melbourne City showing interest. Sydney FC was interested. Adelaide United, there were some interest there,” Troisi said. He admitted that Maccabi Haifa showed interest as Coach Guy Luzon knew him from his time in Belgium. The pictures he took circulated on social media that a potential deal was in the pipeline. The experienced player insists that money is not a motivation for him now as there were places he could go for more of it.