With nothing else to play for but pride, expect this to be a fairly attacking affair between two sides keen to end their season on a high.
Melbourne Heart have had moderate success in their debut A-League season, missing out on finals action, but a win at home in their final match to send off veterans Josip Skoko, John Aloisi and Gerald Sibon will be at the forefront of the players' minds.
John van 't Schip will be hoping his charges come together to end their freshman run in positive fashion, giving them a springboard for next season.
In the Sydney FC camp, Vitezslav Lavicka will want his men to continue their good recent form which has seen them undefeated in their last seven outings.
With four of them being wins, you could safely say the reigning champs left their finals run too late but at least they have next month's Asian Champions League to look forward to and will want to be primed when that competition rolls around.
It should be a good night for football in Melbourne and on the AAMI Park surface I'm tipping there will be a few goals and maybe even some tricks from those on the park playing their final A-League match.
Verdict: 2-2 draw
Melbourne Heart v Sydney FCDate: Saturday, 12 February 2011 Venue: AAMI Stadium, Melbourne Local kick-off: 7:00pm Referee: Ben Williams Match fact: Melbourne Heart midfielder Matt Thompson is set to become the first player to make 150 Hyundai A-League appearances.
Live and exclusive broadcast on FOX Sports 2, FS2 HD and Sky Sports 1 (NZ). Hyundai A-League partner is 774 ABC (Melbourne), SEN and SBS 6 (Digital). To purchase tickets visit www.ticketek.com.au
Melbourne Heart squad: 1.Clint BOLTON, 2.Michael MARRONE, 3.Brendan HAMILL, 4.Simon COLOSIMO, 5.Michael BEAUCHAMP, 6.Matt THOMPSON, 7.Rutger WORM, 8.Kristian SARKIES, 9.Gerald SIBON, 10.Wayne SRHOJ, 12.Peter ZOIS, 14.Kamal IBRAHIM, 15.John ALOISI, 16.Aziz BEHICH, 17.Jason HOFFMAN, 20.Josip SKOKO, 21.Kliment TASESKI, 22.Nick KALMAR, 23.Dean HEFFERNAN *Four to be omitted* In: Michael BEAUCHAMP, Kristian SARKIES, Jason HOFFMAN, Kliment TASESKI, Dean HEFFERNAN Out: Alex TERRA (thigh) Unavailable: Eli BABALJ (thigh), Adrian ZAHRA (knee)
Sydney FC squad: 1. Liam REDDY, 2. Sebastian RYALL, 3. Stephan KELLER, 6. Hirofumi MORIYASU, 7. Brendan GAN, 8. Stuart MUSIALIK, 9. Bruno CAZARINE, 10. Nick CARLE, 11. Kofi DANNING, 12. Shannon COLE, 15. Terry MCFLYNN (c), 17. Matt JURMAN, 18. Juho MAKELA, 20. Ivan NECEVSKI (gk), 21. Scott JAMIESON, 22. Sung-Hwan BYUN, 26. Joel CHIANESE *two to be omitted* In: Stuart MUSIALIK, Joel CHIANESE (promoted) Out: Nil Unavailable: Hayden FOXE (groin - 2 weeks), Mark BRIDGE (stomach - 1 week), Terry ANTONIS (knee - indefinite), Dimitri PETRATOS (Ankle - 6 weeks)
