Matildas at Home Preview: CommBank Matildas feature in elimination finals

The A-League Women’s finals series gets underway this weekend, with two all-important knock-out games.

Read our preview of the action below.

Canberra United v Melbourne Victory

Date: Saturday, 25 April

Venue: McKellar Park

Kickoff: 2pm AEST

Broadcast: 10Drama, 10Play and Paramount+

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Canberra United will be hoping to relive the glory days of old as they host Melbourne Victory in the first finals match at McKellar Park since 2016.

Canberra will go into the match as favourites, given their superior head-to-head record against Victory this season. Midfielder Bethany Gordon will be one of their most important players and is a contender for the Dolan Medal this season. Michelle Heyman is one of the top goal scorers in A-League Women’s finals history, as well as being the outright leader in competition history, and will be key for the home team.

Melbourne Victory, however, are a different beast when it comes to finals series under Jeff Hopkins. Despite only just creeping into the top six, they cannot be discounted at this stage. They’ll be relying on the creativity of players like Rhianna Pollicina and Rachel Lowe, and will welcome back Sienna Saveska from injury.

Brisbane Roar v Adelaide United

Date: Saturday, 25 April

Venue: Spencer Park

Kickoff: 5pm AEST

Broadcast: 10Play and Paramount+

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Brisbane Roar host Adelaide United as they take part in their first finals campaign since 2020-21.

The Roar fell agonisingly short of finals football last season and, after retaining many of the same players, learned their lessons to succeed this time around. Despite battling key injuries and departures throughout the season, the Roar have managed to find a way to secure points at crucial times to host a finals game. Tameka Yallop and Chloe Lincoln will both be key parts to any success for the Roar.

The Reds finished the regular season with three consecutive defeats but will carry the experience of last season’s elimination final victory with them. If they can find a way to shut out the large, parochial Brisbane crowd, they will hope to use their finals experience to get through to the semi-finals.

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