Melbourne looking the goods

Between now and when Adelaide meets Melbourne again in the A-League final series, Aurelio Vidmar will be having a few sleepless nights trying to figure out how to beat the Victory.

Melbourne's 1-0 success at Telstra Dome on Tuesday night completed a hat-trick of victories over the Reds this season and afterwards Vidmar all but admitted that Ernie Merrick had the wood over him.

Since the former Socceroo took over Adelaide after John Kosmina's departure, the teams have met six times and Adelaide has had just one victory. In fact, Melbourne has lost just one in its past 10 against United.

That record is significant in the fact that Melbourne and Adelaide are the two teams most likely to play off in the Grand Final in late February. They boast the most experienced teams in the top four and have shared top spot between them for most of the season.

Should these two teams meet again in the season decider then Melbourne would have a distinct psychological edge. The margin between the two teams has only been one goal on each occasion, but the way Victory dominated Adelaide on Tuesday, they could have won by more.

In contrast, Adelaide, which has now played 29 games since the start of July, put in its worst performance in two months, failing to back up from the 2-0 win over Sydney on Saturday. Vidmar said his men were flat and they certainly didn't look up for the top-of-the-table clash. They managed just two shots on target for the match.

In saying that, they certainly weren't hammered and while Melbourne looked assured, it didn't really ram home its advantage. Ernie Merrick never talks about the opposition post-match, so we can only guess at what he thought of Adelaide's performance. He was happy with his own team, which has now won three games in succession.

Vidmar, seemingly along with every other coach apart from Merrick, is happy to discuss the other teams and he rates Victory as the team to beat at this stage, before adding the caveat, that there are still six weeks to go until this championship is decided.

Should Melbourne beat Central Coast on Friday week, then it would have beaten the other top-four contenders on the run home and regardless of whether it finishes second or first, will be a clear title favourite. It would mean that of the nine matches against the other likely top-four teams, Melbourne would have won seven and lost just one this season.

That's an imposing record to carry into a finals campaign and while Merrick won't admit it, it will be a massive advantage for Melbourne. And to be fair, there is still plenty of improvement left in Victory's game.

Danny Allsopp had a game to forget on Tuesday, while Archie Thompson was busy but not as dangerous as he looked against Queensland. The real improvement has come in the midfield, where Carlos Hernandez has hit close to his best form and Billy Celeski is giving Melbourne some teeth from set pieces. Then there's a fully fit Nick Ward, who has given the midfield a much-needed engine. He looms as a wildcard after scoring two goals in three matches.

Merrick currently has a full squad to choose from and should he be afforded such fortune in February, then Victory will be very hard to hold out.