Melbourne set for scintillating Westfield FFA Cup derby

The two football sides of Melbourne will be divided again as the city gears up for a Westfield FFA Cup Semi Final to savour when reigning Cup holders Melbourne Victory take on crosstown rivals Melbourne City FC tomorrow night (Tuesday 25 October) at AAMI Park for a spot in the Cup finale.

The Westfield FFA Cup has thrown up some mouth watering match ups in the competition’s short history but tomorrow night’s Melbourne Derby Semi Final showdown arguably tops the list.

The match, to be shown LIVE and exclusive on FOX SPORTS (Channel 505), will be the first time the fierce adversaries have met in the Westfield FFA Cup, although it will be their second meeting in 10 days after Melbourne City FC inflicted a 4-1 defeat on Kevin Muscat’s team in the Hyundai A-League on 15 October.

Melbourne City FC were bundled out at the Semi Final stage last year by Perth Glory over in Western Australia but this year poses a different proposition with their star studded line up led by Caltex Socceroo Tim Cahill and Uruguayan striker Bruno Fornaroli.

Buoyed by their last gasp win over Adelaide united in the Hyundai A-League last Saturday night, Melbourne Victory are certain to be spurred on by the defence of their Westfield FFA Cup title while also being motivated by a chance of redemption after their loss to City less than a fortnight ago.

Both sides’ Westfield FFA Cup runs to the Semi Finals have been impressive but not without a scare. Melbourne Victory needed a Besart Berisha penalty to overcome Hume City 1-0 in the Round of 16, while Melbourne City FC was forced to come from a goal down to beat Brisbane Strikers 2-1 courtesy of two Fornaroli penalties.

The winner of tomorrow night’s match will go on to meet Sydney FC in the Westfield FFA Cup Final 2016.

The Westfield FFA Cup Final 2016 will be held on either 29 or 30 November 2016, with details in regards to the venue and kick-off time to be announced after tomorrow night’s match.

For a more detailed preview as well as further information about the Westfield FFA Cup, visit www.theffacup.com.au

FFA Cup trophy

Westfield FFA Cup 2016 Semi Finals – Match Day 2

Melbourne Victory v Melbourne City FC

Tuesday 25 October 2016

AAMI Park, Melbourne

Kick-off: 7:30pm local (7:30pm AEDT)

Referee: Shaun Evans

Assistant Referee 1Luke Brennan

Assistant Referee 2: Wilson Brown

Fourth Official: Jonathan Barreiro

Tickets: Click here for ticketing details

TV Broadcast: 7.00pm (AEDT) Live and exclusive on FOX SPORTS 4 (Channel 505)

Radio Broadcast: 774 ABC Melbourne, Grandstand Digital, Online and via the ABC Radio Mobile App

Join the conversation on Twitter using the hash-tags #MelbDerby #FFACup

Melbourne Victory squad: 2.Jason Geria, 4.Nicholas Ansell, 5.Daniel Georgievski, 6.Leigh Broxham, 7.Marco Rojas, 8.Besart Berisha, 11.Mitch Austin, 13.Oliver Bozanic,14.Fahid Ben Khalfallah, 15.Alan Baro, 16.Rashid Mahazi, 17.James Donachie, 19.George Howard, 20.Lawrence Thomas (gk), 21.Carl Valeri, 22.Stefan Nigro, 23.Jai Ingham,25.Sebastian Pasquali, 27.Alastair Bray (gk)

Unavailable: 10.James Troisi (collarbone)

Melbourne City FC squad: 1.Thomas Sorensen (gk), 2.Manny Muscat, 3.Josh Rose, 4.Connor Chapman, 6.Osama Malik, 8.Neil Kilkenny, 9.Nicolas Colazo, 10.Anthony Caceres, 11.Bruce Kamau, 12.Nick Fitzgerald, 14.Daniel Arzani, 17.Tim Cahill, 18.Paulo Retre, 20.Dean Bouzanis (gk), 21.Ruon Tongyik, 22.Michael Jakobsen, 23.Bruno Fornaroli, 26.Luke Brattan, 27.Fernando Brandan

Unavailable: 7.Corey Gameiro (ACL – season), 28.Steve Kuzmanovski (international duty)