90+2 min: Victory make a time-consuming change as Khalfallah, who has impressed in fits and starts tonight, makes way for debutant Kieran Dover. He’ll be lucky to get a touch.

89 min: Three minutes of added time to be played at Allianz…

87 min: Oops, you could call that a slip too – the ball didn’t skid off a turd on the pitch at all, I meant to write turf. The ‘d’ and ‘f’ are next to each other on the keyboard, easy mistake to make. But if a dog had sneaked onto the pitch, laid a cable on the right wing and the ball had landed on it, no doubt it would have skidded off it. so there.

86 min: Oops, a slip from Gersbach nearly lets in Nabbout, but the ball skids off the turd, beyond the Melbourne player and out of play.

83 min: Can’t believe it. This one’s going to end scoreless unless there’s some late drama. And a point each won’t be enough to bother table-toppers Adelaide.

80 min: Nabbout looks lively straight away and gets round the back to deliver a ball into the middle, but Ognenovski does very well to win a goal kick from his challenge.

77 min: Nabbout comes on to replace Finkler as Kevin Muscat throws the dice in search of victory.

77 min: Oooh! How did that stay out? Janjetovic has a rush of blood to the head as he comes off his line to try and collect Finkler’s corner, but Broxham gets there first. His glancing header reaches Thompson, who controls it in his gut, but it runs away from him and the chance goes begging. Actually, the flag is up anyway, wouldn’t have counted.

75 min: Seb Ryall is taken off before he’s sent off, Pedj Bojic coming on to replace him.

70 min: This is quite an interesting take on the size of the crowd tonight:

And thus far, 73 per cent disappointed.

66 min: Believe it or not, there’s a bit of a lull in the action now. No chances, no cards and no blood visible for at least three minutes. This is getting boring.

63 min: And, following something of a theme of the night (I’m thinking two disallowed goals, two nose bleeds), a second yellow card is issued soon after Ryall was booked to Murnane.

61 min: It had to happen sooner or later. No, not a goal, but Seb Ryall going into the book. Khalfallah does him once again, makes him look silly really, and his foul earns his a well-deserved yellow card.

59 min: Not a bad crowd in the end… not a good one either, but not a bad one.

59 min: Smeltz! Another gilt-edged chance goes begging! Ibini’s ball into the box is right on the money but Smeltz directs his free header straight at Coe, who gratefully makes the save.

57 min: Oof! Dimitrijevic steps up and sends a wickedly curling effort up over the wall and onto the top of the bar! Cracking effort, unlucky.

56 min: Abbas is hauled down right on the edge of the Victory box… there’s a real chance here for the hosts. That man Khalfallah is omnipresent – it was he who brought down the Sydney midfielder.

51 min: Every minute this game goes on without a goal is a travesty. Leijer is doing his best to break the deadlock in the opposition box, but he tumbles to the floor a little too easily under a non-challenge from Ognenovski and despite Victory hands shooting up into the air everywhere, the appeals are turned away.

49 min: Khalfallah connects beautifully with a volley but it only finds a Sydney arse. Cheeky defending.

47 min: And it’s Sydney who start the second period on the front foot, with Leijer forced to make a desperate interception from a cross with Smeltz sniffing around.

45+1 min: And there goes the whistle to bring to an end a quite breathless half of football that, amazingly, has failed to produce a goal. How that is the situation is, frankly, beyond me. Although Vedran Janjetovic, some terrible finishing and the linesmen’s flags might have something to do with it.

45 min: Victory must score now! What is going on? This time Berisha squares the ball to (an onside) Khalfallah, but his effort is repelled by the legs of Janjetovic, who is quickly becoming the hero of the half for Sydney.

43 min: What. A. Miss. Dimitrijevic plays in Brosque, who takes the ball in his stride before opening up his body and curling one goalwards. But he somehow conspires to blaze over the bar, when scoring looked easier. I know that’s a cliché, but really, it did look easier to score.

39 min: I like Khalfallah. He looks dangerous with the ball at his feet. If only he was a bit more selfish earlier on, although he can’t be blamed for looking to square the ball to Berisha.

On a different note, there’s quite a few cards out there tonight:

39 min: Makarounas sends a free header over the bar from a corner, and that was one of the best chances of the night! Again, Sydney’s defending is suspect. A prime suspect.

38 min: Well, this is anything but boring thus far. Broxham is currently off with a bloodied nose. And Mahazi is also going to have to go off with a similar complaint.

36 min: Thompson! Denied by a big Janjetovic hand after the Victory striker was given so much time and space in the Sydney box that he was able to tee up his shot with the same urgency as a golfer would on a green. What were the home defence thinking then? They’ll concede goals tonight if they carry on like that.

33 min: Ooh! A lovely touch by Brosque as he controls a cross and spins around creates a shooting chance in one fluid movement… but Coe sees it all the way and makes a great save! Ibini’s follow-up is woeful.

31 min: Sydney win a corner but it’s cleared at the near post and all of a sudden Victory break forward with Khalfallah. He looks to go it alone, but Gligor is back there and he reads the play extremely well to snuff out the danger.

29 min: Handbags! Thompson and Abbas suddenly have a bit of a contretemps over on the far sideline. That kind of blew up out of nothing, but it’s nothing more than some tame pushing and shoving and no action is taken.

26 min: The crowd is a little disappointing to be honest. I was expecting bigger numbers than this. Perhaps it’s the Four Nations final on the other channel that has tempted people to stay in tonight. Go on then, I’ll give you the option of switching too – Paul Connolly is current manning the liveblog for the game in Wellington. You can join him here.

24 min: Smeltz is held up by Mahazi and the ref blows up. It’s 30 yards out, but still, perhaps this is a chance for Petkovic to have a pop on goal. No, he passes up the chance and opts for subtlety instead of raw power, but that doesn’t suit him too much and his dink forward comes to nothing.

22 min: Broxham now puts in a rather cynical tackle on serial offender Ryall in what seems to be a bit of retaliation for the latter’s persistent offending tonight. At least the official is consistent – he has a word with the Victory player but nothing more.

21 min: Ooh! Thompson nearly silences his knockers with a near-sublime bit of skill, bringing down a cross on his chest before volleying goalwards. Unfortunately for him, Janjetovic stands firm and repels the effort.

19 min: Victory are looking the better of the two sides so far. They’re certainly enjoying more possession, with Sydney’s passing a bit ragged.

17 min: Ryall grabs a handful of the tricky Khalfallah’s shirt and tugs him back. That’s a booking in it’s own right, let alone off the back of two earlier fouls from the Sydney right-back, but the ref doesn’t appear too keen to dig into his pocket for a card.

15 min: A quarter of an hour gone, and so far we’ve had two disallowed goals, a couple of pot shots from distance and some tasty challenges. Not bad, Big Blue, not bad.

14 min: Thompson, who’s already being booed by the home crowd (as sad as it is inevitable), hares onto a through pass but Janjetovic is off his line like a whippet to smother the ball at the Victory striker’s feet.

12 min: Khalfallah wends his way into the Sydney box now and this time, with Berisha alongside him again, he opts to go for goal (or is that a cross?). Either way, the ball flies across the face of goal and just past the back stick.

10 min: Hmm, so yeah, er the game’s not really living up to the hype so far.

8 min: Now the ball sits up nicely for Ibini and he fancies his chances from distance. He lets fly but Coe is equal to it, getting a fingertip to turn the ball around the post.

6 min: And another! Straight down the other end and Ognenovski nearly makes amends for that slip by flicking home from Ibini’s cross… but the whistle goes and his effort is chalked off for offside! Mad start at Allianz.

5 min: GOAL! No! Disallowed! What a terrible decision by Khalfallah to ‘square’ to Berisha, who gleefully knocks into an empty net after a woeful slip by Ognenovski let him clean thorugh on goal! Turns out Berisha was offside, the flag goes up and it won’t count.

2 min: Ryall piles into an early challenge and gives away the first free-kick of the night. Finkler sends it into the Sydney box, but it’s easy for Janjetovic to claim.

It looks like the ref is fist bumping the captains. He’s not. In actual fact, his clenched fist is thrust forward so the flipped coin can land on it.

Terry Antonis is suited and booted in the stands – his absence from the Sydney line-up tonight is an odd one. He was pulled out of the Socceroos squad after being involved in a car accident on his way to the airport, recovered, but was then told he couldn’t play tonight.

While we’re waiting for kick-off - Victory are lining up in the tunnel and Sydney are nowhere in sight - we’ve just got time to look back on one of the best games between these two – the 2010 premiership decider.

Result: Adelaide United 2-1 Wellington Phoenix

In case you missed it, Adelaide are the new A-League leaders, after Sergio Cirio scored the winner in the 93^rd minute of their clash against the Phoenix earlier today. United now boast a two-point advantage over Perth, who in turn are a point ahead of Victory and Sydney. Three points tonight will be enough for either to topple Adelaide, with Glory facing the Western Sydney Wanderers in a late kick-off. A win for Perth in that one will see them go top. Congested much?

Unfortunately, as previously mentioned, we will be deprived of several top players tonight, which is a shame, but also nothing new. International week is international week and teams should be able to cope with it because they have plenty of notice to do just that. Just my opinion…

Now, before I get accused of perpetuating the Melbourne-Sydney axis of power/interest/evil, there can surely be no arguing that this is a BIG game, not only for Australian football but also this time in a more current context. Yes, there have been big games already this season – and not just involving Melbourne or Sydney clubs – but this one is not just about a rivalry; the winner can claim top spot in the A-League ladder (at least until Perth play later tonight) and steal a march on their opponents.

Mike will be here momentarily to take you through tonight’s proceedings but until he gets here, here’s what Guardian Australia’s Paul Connolly thinks of the upcoming clash – and he’s not overly enamoured with the number of stars missing due to international commitments.

Saturday night’s match between heavyweights Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory may yet be the kind of match you’d like to laminate and slip into the window pocket of your mind’s eye but due to a combined eight international withdrawals the result has already been devalued. This is not to say fans of the winning side (if it’s not a draw, that is) will refrain from sticking the boot in afterwards – three points is three points – but the rattle of ribs beneath their toes won’t bring them quite as much pleasure as it could have. Noting that five Victory players and three Sydney players will miss the match while on international duty (never mind that 18 others will also be absent from this weekend’s round of A-League matches) Sky Blues’ coach Graham Arnold said it’s time that the FFA got into step with Fifa’s international breaks to stop this kind of thing happening. No doubt he’s right for as it stands clubs are suffering for having international players on their books while the A-League is cheapened by the absence of its best players. It is surely time for the FFA to find a way to schedule the A-League season accordingly. This may mean playing a number of midweek rounds or perhaps starting the season in September. The A-League has thus far been reluctant to compete with other football codes but perhaps it’s time for the game to stop looking over its shoulder and show more faith in its product and fans.

Big Blue absentees

Victory: Kosta Barbarouses (NZ), Daniel Georgievski (Macedonia), Scott Galloway (Australia U23), Jason Geria (Australia U23), Connor Pain (Australia U23).

Sydney FC: Terry Antonis (Originally selected for Australia, ruled out due to injury, recovered, but now barred from playing by the FFA), Marc Janko (Austria), Corey Gameiro (Australia U23).