Glory ALW Head Coach Stephen Peters believes a fighting performance will be required from his side to get the better of Melbourne Victory in Sunday’s Round 5 match-up at Home of the Matildas (kick-off at 1pm WST, watch live and FREE on 10.com.au).
Click HERE to watch his pre-match media conference in full.
The women in purple will be out to snap a run of three straight defeats, the most recent of which saw them go down 3-0 at the hands of Canberra United.
And with Victory also looking to bounce back from a surprise 1-0 loss to Wellington Phoenix last weekend, Peters is expecting a tough battle to unfold.
“I think running into a Victory team coming off a loss is never going to be a good thing for you,” he said, “and you’re going to have to be ready to go to war essentially.
“[Victory Head Coach] Jeff [Hopkins] is going to have them chewing glass and we’ve got to be ready for it.
“I think if we are, we can really get into the tussle.”
In terms of his assessment of the performance at Canberra, meanwhile, the Head Coach pulled no punches.
“It’s probably a game that we just want to put behind us, that one,” he said.
“Losing [Izzy] Dalton the day before we travelled was tough and I don’t think we adapted to that as well as we possibly could have.
“We also made quite a few changes and they obviously didn’t bear the fruit that we were looking for.
“With the exception of maybe ten minutes after the second goal they scored, I don’t think we showed our true character in that game and that was probably the disappointing part of it.
“We’ve conceded nine goals in four games now, so that’s the first area of concern and the manner in which we’re conceding them as well; we have to fix that.
“We’ve got to address each piece one at a time and hopefully that’ll have an impact on our competency in defending.”
In terms of early team news, Peters confirmed that Dalton’s knee problem will rule her out for at least another week, but fellow-midfielder Georgia Cassidy is poised to make her first appearance of the season after recovering from a serious hamstring injury.
As for Saturday’s opponents, they have made a steady if unspectacular start to the season, with wins over Western Sydney and Central Coast bookended by defeats against Brisbane Roar and most recently, Wellington Phoenix.
Former Glory trio Alana Jancevski, Sofia Sakalis and Courtney Newbon have started each of their games this term, while American import Kennedy White has certainly hit the ground running in her maiden ALW campaign, bagging four goals in as many appearances.
Glory will be searching for a first win since February 2022 in a fixture which has become decidedly cagey in recent years, with the last five meetings producing an aggregate of just ten goals.
Of the 30 overall clashes between the two sides, the navy-and-whites have claimed 14 wins to Glory’s 11.
Match Details
Ninja A-League 2025/26 Season Round 5
Melbourne Victory v Perth Glory
Home of the Matildas
Sunday 30 November 2025
Kick-off: 1pm WST (4pm Local Time)
Melbourne Victory squad: 1.Courtney NEWBON, 5. Sofia SAKALIS, 6. Taylor RAY 7. Ella O’GRADY, 9. Holly FURPHY, 10. Rhianna POLLICINA, 14. Fiorina, IARIA, 16. Kennedy WHITE, 18. Kayla MORRISON, 19. Zoe McMEEKEN, 20. Leyla, HUSSEIN, 23. Rachel LOWE, 24. Laura PICKETT, 27. Rosie CURTIS, 30. Payton WOODWARD, 41. Jessica YOUNG, 66. Alana JANCEVSKI, 88. Grace MAHER
(One to be omitted)
Ins: 6. Taylor RAY
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: Chelsea BLISSETT (back), 8. Sienna SAVESKA (medical), 11. Nickoletta FLANNERY (leg), 3.Claudia BUNGE (national team), 17. Poppy O’KEEFFE (national team)
Perth Glory squad: 3.Emma TOVAR, 5.Grace JOHNSTON, 6.Tijan MCKENNA, 8.Georgia CASSIDY, 9.Gabby HOLLAR, 10.Susan PHONSONGKHAM, 12.Bronte TREW, 13.Naomi CHINNAMA, 16.Olivia WOOD, 17.Rola BADAWIYA, 22.Ischia BROOKING, 24.Julia SARDO, 25.Ella LINCOLN, 26.Tanika LALA, 27.Charli WAINWRIGHT, 28.Clancy WESTAWAY, 29.Onyinyechi ZOGG, 30.Jessica SKINNER, 33.Alyssa DALL’OSTE
(Two to be omitted)
Ins: 8.Georgia CASSIDY, 28.Clancy WESTAWAY
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 1.Teresa MORRISSEY (injured), 7.Megan WYNNE (injured), 11.Natalie TATHEM (injured), 20.Ella ABDUL MASSIH (injured), 23.Isobel DALTON (injured)
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