In my opinion Melbourne Victory have really good chances to make at least one point in today's match up.

Melbourne today have big advantage in fitness department because they played their last match 17 days ago, so players are fresh and ready to go. On the other hand this is already fifth match for Sydney in less than two weeks. In addition to that they have big squad problems. They are still without their two key strikers Le Fondre and Barbarouses. First goalkeeper Redmayne and two key defenders Rhyan Grant and Joel King are unavailable due to national duties. This is huge blow for the team and should have very bad impact on their performance today.

It's very prestigious match for both clubs and their supporters and I'm sure Melbourne will give absolutely everything to make positive result today as they lost against them in last 8 matches in a row. Now situation is completely different in comparison to the previous years. Melbourne Victory with their new coach Popovic on the bench are leaders of the table and they have all required tools to go with momentum today. In previous season they lost derby matches against Melbourne City in very bad style (0-6, 0-7), but in current season improvement was really visible as they recorded draw 2:2 and I can imagine similar scenario in today's game. Also H2H between both teams is not one-sided in Sydney favour at all. Sydney won only 16 of 53 matches against Melbourne Victory.

Hosts are in great form, they plays the best football in whole league at the moment, they have freshness on their side and for sure they have something to prove. On the other hand Sydney lost last two matches in a row against lower rank teams and their confidence for sure is on low level, in addition to that their squad is depleted and tired..

Melbourne Victory coach Popovic said: "It's the approach we have to take … we have to bring a mentality and intensity that a big game brings about. They're a big club, Sydney FC; there's a big history between the two clubs and I look forward to experiencing that for the first time as a coach of Melbourne Victory. We've got to now regroup after a bit of a break. When you've got a game against Sydney FC, it should be easy motivation for the players. They look happy and they look ready to play, and we want to put on a really good performance, and if we can do that, I think we can get the three points.”

Even Sydney coach Steve Corica don't have big belief, he said: "It's going too be very tough to go to Melbourne and win."

All in all, I see excellent chances for Melbourne to avoid loss today.

本译文使用有道机器翻译，仅供参考：

在我看来，墨尔本胜利队在今天的比赛中有很好的机会至少得一分。

墨尔本今天在健身方面有很大的优势，因为他们在17天前打了最后一场比赛，所以球员们都是新鲜的，随时准备出发。另一方面，这已经是悉尼在不到两周内的第五场比赛了。除此之外，他们还有很大的阵容问题。他们仍然缺少他们的两名关键前锋Le Fondre和barbarouse。第一门将雷德梅尼和两名关键后卫瑞恩·格兰特和乔尔·金因国家队比赛不能上场。这对球队来说是一个巨大的打击，应该会对他们今天的表现产生非常坏的影响。

这对两家俱乐部和他们的球迷来说都是一场非常有声望的比赛，我相信墨尔本会尽一切努力在今天取得积极的结果，因为他们已经连续输给了他们8场比赛。现在的情况与往年完全不同。墨尔本胜利队的新教练波波维奇坐在替补席上，他们是积分榜上的领头羊，今天他们拥有所有需要的工具来保持势头。上个赛季，他们以非常糟糕的方式输掉了与墨尔本城的德比(0-6,0-7)，但在当前的赛季中，他们的进步是非常明显的，他们记录了2:2的平局，我可以想象在今天的比赛中会出现类似的情况。此外，在悉尼，两队之间的H2H并不是片面的。悉尼在对阵墨尔本胜利队的53场比赛中只赢了16场。

东道主的状态很好，他们踢出了目前全联盟最好的足球，他们的球队充满活力，他们肯定有东西要证明。另一方面，悉尼在过去的两场比赛中输给了排名较低的球队，他们的信心肯定是低水平的，此外，他们的队伍是枯竭和疲惫的。

墨尔本胜利队教练波波维奇说:“这是我们必须采取的方法……我们必须带来一场重要比赛所带来的精神和强度。”悉尼FC是一家大俱乐部;两家俱乐部之间有着悠久的历史，我期待着作为墨尔本胜利队的教练，第一次体验到这一点。休息一段时间后，我们必须重新组合。当你和悉尼足球俱乐部比赛时，对球员来说应该是很容易激励的。他们看起来很高兴，他们看起来准备好了，我们想要有一个真正好的表现，如果我们能做到这一点，我想我们可以拿到三分。”

就连悉尼队的主教练史蒂夫·科里卡(Steve Corica)也不太相信，他说:“去墨尔本并赢得比赛将会非常困难。”

总而言之，我认为今天墨尔本有很好的机会避免失利。