Brisbane Roar vs Melbourne Victory Prediction: Relief for Diles’ side at Suncorp

Brisbane Roar secured a surprise result at Auckland FC last weekend, holding the reigning Premier's Plate winners to a 1-1 draw in their own backyard. Michael Valkanis' side have only lost one of their opening five Australian A-League Men's games this season (W2, D2), and they will look to build on that positive record at Suncorp Stadium on Friday (08:35 GMT, TNT Sports 4) against second-from-bottom Melbourne Victory, who were humbled 3-0 by Sydney FC in the Big Blue last Saturday.

Below are my Brisbane Roar vs Melbourne Victory predictions, supported by all the latest team news and match odds.

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Team News

Brisbane Roar are missing Ben Halloran (knee), Antonee Burke-Gilroy (foot), Hosine Bility (hamstring), Marcus Ferkranus and Nathan Amanatidis (both quad) due to injury, but Chris Long has recovered from the hamstring problem that kept him out of the 3-0 victory over Newcastle Jets on November 9 and last Sunday's 1-1 draw at Auckland FC.

Football Odds

Australian international Nishan Velupillay is expected to make his first appearance of the season for Melbourne Victory on Friday, having recovered from surgery on an ankle injury.

Adama Traore and Oliver Dragicevic have also been named in Arthur Diles' extended squad for the trip to Brisbane, but Brendan Hamill (knee) is still sidelined.

Brisbane Roar vs Melbourne Victory Odds

Brisbane Roar (eight) boast double the number of points as their next opponents, and Friday's hosts are considered slight favourites to win here, with odds of 7/5 implying a 41.7% probability of success, while Melbourne Victory are priced at 13/8 (38.1%).

The sides last met on March 1, playing out a 1-1 draw at Suncorp. Another draw between the two can be backed at 11/5, with a repeat of that scoreline offered at 11/2.

Match Result - Melbourne Victory @ 13/8

This may raise eyebrows given the Roar's solid start to the season, and Victory's awful beginning to it.

However, I still think there is much more quality in Victory's ranks; it's just a case of fine-tuning things.

Back-to-back defeats in the Melbourne derby and Big Blue, two games in which they failed to score and conceded five goals, should act as a real wake-up call to Diles and his players.

Today's Football Fixtures

That may spell trouble for the Roar, who are three matches unbeaten but have drawn twice in that run.

I don't want to take anything away from Valkanis' side, but their first win was a 1-0 success against Macarthur FC, with the only goal of the game scored from the penalty spot, and their second and most recent victory was a 3-0 triumph over Newcastle Jets, who are bottom of the table, having lost four consecutive games.

Victory are unbeaten in their last three meetings with the Roar (W1, D2), keeping two clean sheets, and they will be targeting Friday's contest as one in which they can pick up all three points.

It may not be convincing, but at 13/8, I see some value in backing an away win here.

Most Corners - Melbourne Victory @ 11/8

Roar and Victory are both averaging 4.6 corners taken per game in this season's ALM, but the former are averaging 4.4 conceded per game, while the latter are averaging 2.6 conceded per game, which is the lowest in the league.

Victory failed to win a corner in their opening game against Auckland, who took two, but Diles' side have won the corner count in their last four matches, taking at least six in three.

Roar, meanwhile, have only won the corner count twice, with the Jets, the latest visitors to Suncorp, awarded one more than the home side's seven on November 9.

Victory are expected to apply some serious pressure on Friday, which should result in a fair few corners coming their way.

Nick Ware P/L 25/26 ALM Season

 P/L: +14.25