{"id":2666,"date":"2025-12-19T10:29:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:29:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/?p=2666"},"modified":"2025-12-19T10:29:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:29:10","slug":"melbourne-derby-preview-can-victory-upset-citys-momentum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/melbourne-derby-preview-can-victory-upset-citys-momentum\/","title":{"rendered":"Melbourne Derby Preview: Can Victory Upset City\u2019s Momentum?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><strong>Melbourne City vs Melbourne Victory<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Saturday, December 20 \u2013 AAMI Park \u2013 7:35pm AEDT<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>How to Watch:<\/strong> Live streaming on SPOTV NOW<\/p>\n<p><strong>Current Standings<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Melbourne City: 4th<\/li>\n<li>Melbourne Victory: 12th<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Round 8 Results<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Melbourne City: Did not play (AFC Champions League Elite commitments)<\/li>\n<li>Melbourne Victory: 2-1 win over Adelaide United (Home)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DScHor6jJfO\/\"><p>&nbsp;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async defer src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>The Christmas Derby in Melbourne rarely disappoints. It\u2019s a fixture that guarantees intensity, drama, and plenty at stake.<\/p>\n<p>Melbourne City have managed their season impressively, balancing domestic duties with AFC Champions League Elite commitments. Sitting fourth in the A-League, they look sharp and organized.<\/p>\n<p>Striker Max Caputo has been the breakout star, already netting four league goals\u2014just one shy of his career-best tally from last season.<\/p>\n<p>Across town, Melbourne Victory finally found their scoring touch after four goalless matches. Greek forward Nikos Vergos broke his duck in style, bagging a brace against Adelaide United.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, marquee signing Juan Mata continues to pull the strings in midfield, creating 26 chances so far this season for Arthur Diles\u2019 side.<\/p>\n<p>When these teams met in Round 4, City claimed bragging rights with a 2-0 win courtesy of Caputo and young full-back Peter Antoniou.<\/p>\n<p>Victory, however, haven\u2019t won a derby since October 2024 and have managed just two wins this season. Still, City boss Aurelio Vidmar isn\u2019t taking anything for granted. \u201cWe\u2019re up against a very good team, especially in attack,\u201d Vidmar said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe inclusion of Nishan gives them extra creativity and options. Mata is hitting form, and Vergos scored twice last week. They\u2019re slowly getting back to normal performances. We know it\u2019s going to be a tough game\u2014it always is.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lXuGoZ_3SZ8?si=sfy1RdwYct2aOoUn\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Melbourne City vs Melbourne Victory Saturday, December 20 \u2013 AAMI Park \u2013 7:35pm AEDT How to Watch: Live streaming on SPOTV NOW Current Standings Melbourne City: 4th Melbourne Victory: 12th Round 8 Results Melbourne City: Did not play (AFC Champions League Elite commitments) Melbourne Victory: 2-1 win over Adelaide United (Home) &nbsp; The Christmas Derby &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/melbourne-derby-preview-can-victory-upset-citys-momentum\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Melbourne Derby Preview: Can Victory Upset City\u2019s Momentum?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2667,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,5,1],"tags":[127],"class_list":["post-2666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-popular","category-top-stories","category-uncategorized","tag-football"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2666"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2666\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2670,"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2666\/revisions\/2670"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}