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City, Sydney eye shot at W-League history

3 minute read

The winner of the W-League grand final between Melbourne City and Sydney FC will become the first team to take out four championships.

Melbourne City and Sydney FC both have the chance to make W-League history behind closed doors when they face off in Saturday's grand final at AAMI Park.

City and Sydney are the only teams to have taken out three W-League championships, with the winner of Saturday's match to claim an unprecedented fourth title.

"I think there's something really special about this team. I was saying it to a couple of girls the other day - I've never been in a team with so many incredible, talented players that have the motivation to win like we do," City captain Steph Catley said.

Stocked with Matildas and international talent, City are aiming to complete an unbeaten season for the second time.

Catley was confident they could handle the expectation, while coach Rado Vidosic backed his side to deliver.

"We have identified some of their weaknesses; we have identified some of their strengths," Vidosic said.

"So it is up to who is going to win more battles on the field throughout the game and I believe we have players who are capable of winning their battles and, hopefully, that is going to be enough on the day."

City beat the Sky Blues 2-1 in Sydney in their only regular-season clash.

"They did win but we definitely took them to the wire and (were) probably the closest team to City," Sydney coach Ante Juric said.

"So we're confident in what we can do and we'll learn from that game and learn from what we've seen of them in the last couple of weeks as well."

Sydney qualified via upsetting Melbourne Victory 1-0 in an away semi-final, while City thumped Western Sydney 5-1.

Skipper Teresa Polias said the underdogs would draw on the motivation of winning successive championships.

"Our club's a successful club as well and we've got records to keep and break," she said.

"Obviously, we want to go back-to-back and we know there's a huge mountain ahead of us but we also know that, on our best day, we can beat anyone."

STATS THAT MATTER:

* Sydney FC and Melbourne City have both won three W-League championships, more than any other team

* City have won their past four W-League games against Sydney FC - on the past three occasions, the teams were level at halftime

* City are undefeated in 15 W-League games (W14, D1) and have won their past 12 in a row.

Stats provided by Opta

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