Interesting pick here.

Melbourne City is one of the best teams in the A-League. Won the title last year (after winning the regular league as well) and in 2019/20 were runners-up after losing the final game against Sydney.

This season they made a great campaign and have the chance to win the crown in front of their fans. The support will be huge and surely players will be really motivated. They just need to win here, as leaders Melbourne Victory are 2 points above but already ended the regular season.

They have the best attack of the league with 53 goals scored in 25 games, thanks to the quality of strikers like Maclaren (topscorer of the league with 14 goals) and Leckie (9 goals).

Best lineup is expected here, without important absences. As opposed to Wellignton, the fact of ending in the top2 gives them access directly to the playoff ½ finals, so they will have a week off next week to rest.

On the other hand, Wellington Phoenix made a decent season, finishing 6th on the table (last playoffs spot). But on the field the Phoenix have been wildly inconsistent, winning 12, drawing three and losing 10 of their 25 games, scoring 33 goals (only the bottom three have managed fewer) and conceding a league high 47 for a miserable goal difference of -14.

They had a very difficult season with many injuries (like captain Alex Rufer out for a year) and covid cases, so the players aren’t in their best fit for the playoffs. That’s why coach Ufuk Talay announced that will use an alternative squad here, resting the best and key players for the playoffs next week, as they have nothing on play already.

As the coach said: “We don’t have a lot of players to mix and match at the moment so we’ll have to pick and choose the ones we believe need the rest and the ones who need game time”. For example, forward David Ball, who has battled through with an injured toe, won’t play here to ensure he is fresh for next weekend’s elimination final.

The absences of key players Lewis and Rufer have been sorely felt over the past six weeks. While Phoenix banked enough points during that period to secure a finals berth, the team also conceded 20 goals in the nine games they have been without their first-choice central midfield pairing and suffered heavy 6-0, 5-0 and 4-0 defeats.

In the last game (both teams with the best lineup) Melbourne City won 0:6. Today with the fans' support, huge motivation to win the trophy, against a team full of reserves and without motivation, they should be able to cover this -1.5 handicap.

本译文使用有道机器翻译，仅供参考：

有趣的选择。

墨尔本是a联赛中最好的球队之一。去年赢得了冠军(同时也赢得了正规联赛)，2019/20在输给悉尼后获得亚军。

这个赛季他们做了一个伟大的运动，有机会在他们的球迷面前赢得冠军。支持将是巨大的，肯定会激励球员。他们只需要在这里赢球，领头羊墨尔本胜利队领先2分，但已经结束了常规赛。

他们在25场比赛中打进53球，是联赛中攻击力最强的球队，这要归功于像麦克拉伦(14球的联赛最佳射手)和莱基(9球)这样的优秀前锋。

最好的阵容在这里，没有重要的缺席。与惠灵顿不同的是，以前2名结束的事实让他们有机会直接进入季后赛1 / 2决赛，所以他们将在下周休息一周。

另一方面，惠灵顿凤凰队打出了一个不错的赛季，在积分榜上排名第六(上一个季后赛席位)。但在球场上，菲尼克斯却表现得非常不稳定，他们在25场比赛中12胜3平10负，进了33个球(只有排名倒数三的球队进的球更少)，丢了联盟最高的47个球，净胜球差只有可怜的-14。

他们经历了一个非常艰难的赛季，有很多伤病(比如队长亚历克斯·鲁弗(Alex Rufer)缺席了一年)和covid病例，所以球员们并没有处于季后赛的最佳状态。这就是为什么乌福·塔雷教练宣布将在这里使用一支替代阵容，让最好的和关键的球员在下周的季后赛中休息，因为他们已经没有任何比赛了。

正如教练所说:“我们现在没有太多的球员需要混合和匹配，所以我们必须挑选那些我们认为需要休息的球员和那些需要比赛时间的球员。”例如，前锋大卫·鲍尔(David Ball)，他一直在努力克服脚趾受伤的问题，他将不会参加这里的比赛，以确保自己在下周的淘汰赛决赛中保持活力。

刘易斯和鲁弗的缺阵在过去的六个星期里让人感到很痛苦。在这段时间里，菲尼克斯获得了足够的积分，确保了决赛席位，但在没有他们的第一选择中场搭档的9场比赛中，他们也丢了20个球，并遭遇了6-0、5-0和4-0的惨败。

在上一场比赛中(两队阵容都是最好的)墨尔本城0:6获胜。今天，有了球迷的支持，有了赢得奖杯的巨大动力，面对一个满是预备队而没有动力的球队，他们应该能够至少能赢两球。