Melbourne Victory the one team entitled to think it can beat Sydney FC, says Matt Windley

IT IS a top-of-the-table blockbuster and a possible Grand Final preview and if there is one team that is entitled to think it can beat the undefeated Sydney, it’s Victory.

Sydney FC striker Alex Brosque scores against Adelaide United.

IT IS a top-of-the-table blockbuster and in many people’s eyes a Grand Final preview.

But if the talk coming out of the Sydney FC camp is to be believed then there can be only one possible winner on Australia Day, and that is the Sky Blues.

Sydney is undefeated after 16 games.

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It is an A-League record start to the season.

Coach Graham Arnold has put it on his men to become the competition’s first “invincibles”.

And if recent talk from senior players such as Alex Brosque and David Carney is anything to go by, the players are most definitely buying what their coach is selling.

Kevin Muscat and Graham Arnold. Picture: George Salpigtidis

This from skipper Brosque on December 19: “I honestly think that the more we keep winning, the more teams are starting to think we’re running away with the title.”

And Carney on January 9: “We feel we just can’t get beat.”

The undefeated season talk started on November 24 - after just seven rounds - when Arnold revealed he had shown his players footage from Arsenal’s unbeaten march to the 2003-04 English Premier League title.

“Our aim is to be the A-League invincibles and go through undefeated,” Arnold said.

Then as that run stretched to 12 games come Boxing Day, Arnold said of his side’s A-League rivals: “They know they can’t out-run us, they know they can’t out-fight us, they know they’re not as fit as us.”

Sydney’s run has been truly remarkable.

Filip Holosko confronts Besart Berisha after he missed a penalty in Round 5. Picture: Gregg Porteous

Almost just as impressive as its 12-win, four-draw record is the 36 goals it has scored and the miserly seven it has conceded.

That means, on average, Sydney concedes less than a goal every two games it plays.

But if there is one team that is entitled to think it can get Sydney, it’s Victory.

And this game - the only one the two teams play in Melbourne this season - could be the make or break match in FC’s quest to go where no other A-League team has gone before.

Victory led 1-0 at half-time when the teams met at Allianz Stadium in Round 5, a margin that should have been greater had Besart Berisha had not missed a penalty or Marco Rojas not spurned a sitter.

And then Sydney’s equalising goal came only after the most blatant of Carney handballs.

So when Brosque said on Friday night that the game is “must win for (Victory), not for us,” it makes you wonder.

Is it gamesmanship? Or is the captain conditioning his club’s fans for the possibility of a loss?

Originally published as Melbourne Victory the one team entitled to think it can beat Sydney FC, says Matt Windley