Melbourne Victory host Perth Glory in Round 11 of the Isuzu UTE A-League on Friday, January 2, kick-off 7:35pm AEDT.
Riding the crest of a wave into 2026, Arthur Diles’ side are tracking well following an unbeaten December, where they took 10 points from an available 12 to finish the calendar year in sixth position.
Victory achieved three wins in a row on Monday night as they built on successes against Adelaide United and Melbourne City by thrashing Wellington Phoenix 5-1 on home soil.
Back at AAMI Park once more, the target, versus an opponent they beat to nil on the road in October, is a fourth straight victory.
The Boys in Blue
Melbourne Victory have enjoyed the upper hand over Perth Glory in recent seasons, taking five of the last six meetings, and scoring at least twice in each of these wins to swing the history’s overall record in their favour 25 to 20, with 12 draws.
The most recent encounter, back in Round 3, secured the first three points of the 2025/26 campaign for Arthur Diles and co., with Keegan Jelacic and Juan Mata on the scoresheet.
Jelacic netted his third of the season against Wellington Phoenix, but the headlines were reserved for fellow attacker Nikos Vergos, who became the sixth Victory player in A-League Men’s history to score a hat-trick, thanks to two first-half headers and a right-footed finish after the interval.
This followed the Greek striker’s brace to beat Adelaide United, meaning his current five-goal haul puts him level with Macarthur’s Harrison Sawyer at the top of the Golden Boot chart.
Two of Vergos’ latest goals came from the same source – Joshua Rawlins. The defender’s assists were a timely contribution as he now signs off from domestic action to represent Australia at the 2026 AFC U23 Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia. Rawlins was named in a 23-player squad alongside teammate Jordi Valadon.
Round 11 Squad: 2. Jason DAVIDSON, 3. Adama TRAORE, 4. Lachlan JACKSON, 9. Nikolaos VERGOS, 10. Denis GENREAU, 11. Clerismario SANTOS RODRIGUES, 14. Matthew GRIMALDI, 15. Sebastian ESPOSITO, 16. Joshua INSERRA, 17. Nishan VELUPILLAY, 19. Jing REEC, 21. Roderick MIRANDA, 23. Keegan JELACIC, 24. Emre SAGLAM, 25. Jack DUNCAN, 27. Louis D’ARRIGO, 28. Kayne RAZMOVSKI, 29. Oliver DRAGICEVIC, 40. Jack WARSHAWSKY, 64. Juan MATA
Ins: 28. Kayne RAZMOVSKI, 29. Oliver DRAGICEVIC
Outs: N/A
Unavailable: 5. Brendan HAMILL (injured), 7. Reno PISCOPO (injured), 8. Jordi VALADON (international duty), 22. Joshua RAWLINS (international duty)
Glory days
Perth Glory’s mini slump was ended courtesy of impressively beating Melbourne City on Sunday evening, as the Western Australians look to capture some semblance of stability under new permanent boss Adam Griffiths, who stepped up from his assistant brief following David Zdrilic’s dismissal post-Round 2.
The 46-year-old Sydneysider won three, including one when managing 10 men for nearly an hour against Western Sydney Wanderers, and lost three of his six games in interim charge, whilst the Glory hierarchy pored over the appointment of their next head coach.
Then, with Griffiths locked in until the end of the current campaign, Perth surrendered by a single goal on home soil for the second straight match day, conceding inside a quarter of an hour to Adelaide United a week after they had made the same misstep when hosting Sydney FC.
Post-Christmas, in a continuation of their contrasting form, it was Perth making the fast start on their first of two AAMI Park outings across six days. Leading scorer, Tom Lawrence, netted in minutes 10 and 22 versus City on route to bagging himself a hat-trick in a 1-3 success.
Sunday’s result lines up the prospect of four consecutive away three-pointers, following triumphs over Newcastle Jets and Macarthur at the end of November, before recently overcoming City. But Glory fans may look at this opportunity with trepidation, given they had been waiting since 2021 for successive road wins until November’s change of fortune.
Run it back
Melbourne Victory claimed their first three points of the 2025/26 Isuzu UTE A-League season in October’s reverse fixture at HBF Park.
The visitors bounced back from defeat away to Newcastle Jets by putting in a solid, winning performance in Western Australia.
Victory opened the scoring after 11 minutes of action, with Keegan Jelacic firing in from the edge of the penalty area for his second goal in as many games.
Early in the second half, the win was confirmed when Juan Mata, teed up by Matthew Grimaldi, swept home his first goal for the Club.
Last time out
Nikos Vergos’ hat-trick fired Melbourne Victory to their biggest win of the season against Wellington Phoenix.
His aerial prowess was on display during the first half at AAMI Park, with Vergos converting smart crosses from Nishan Velupillay and Joshua Rawlins, either side of Ramy Najjarine’s leveller.
The striker brought up his treble in the second minute of the second half, sweeping home another Rawlins centre to take home the match ball.
Victory did not let up and added further goals through Santos, his first of the season, and Keegan Jelacic at the death, laid on by Jing Reec’s surge from inside his own half.
Perth Glory started their Victoria double header by recording a comprehensive 1-3 victory over Melbourne City at AAMI Park.
Stung by successive home losses, the visitors experienced no travel sickness as they raced into a two-goal lead before the first-half’s mid-point.
Tom Lawrence was at the double for Adam Griffiths’ men, and the former Manchester United youth completed his hat-trick 10 minutes from full-time, ensuring City’s late response through Andrew Nabbout was merely a consolation.
