Muscat, Arnold duel before A-League clash

Sep 30, 2017 - 11:00 PM Melbourne Victory coach Kevin Muscat isn't happy about his stars missing the A-League's opening round.

But Sydney FC rival Graham Arnold has a message for him: you've only got yourself to blame.

Arnold's championship-winners head south to Melbourne for a blockbuster grand final rematch at Etihad Stadium to underpin round one.

Unlike Victory, they will be at full strength.

Muscat will be without Socceroos James Troisi and Mark Milligan, with New Zealand's Kosta Barbarouses also away on international duty.

Arnold has little sympathy for his opposite number.

"Maybe they should have recruited differently," he told AAP.

"One of the first things I do when I recruit is look at the international programming, whether it's Socceroos or a (youth tournament) and you're going to miss them for three or four weeks.

"The league is short, it's only 27 games. I prefer to stay away from those internationals."

Muscat said the competitive imbalance wasn't fair.

"The fact that one team has got everyone available and the other team doesn't still doesn't sit right with me," he said.

"But I'm sick of complaining about it so I'm not going to."

"It's disappointing for our club owners, sponsors, who invest.

"And then there's the investment of people's time. Of our members and fans.

"It's not right that our members -- and we've got 23,000 as we speak -- turn up to round one and they don't see the team that we've prepared for the season."

There could yet be more selection pain for Victory, given New Zealand will be - and Australia hope to be - involved in intercontinental play-offs for World Cup qualification in November.

Muscat ruled out making a fixture alteration request should that come to pass.

Victory will instead soldier on, hoping to end a four-game losing streak to Sydney.

Arnold backed his players to extend their winning run on Saturday night.

"We had four great games against Victory last year," he said.

"Round one is a fantastic time to play them.

"Since I've been at Sydney we've always had a good record against Melbourne, except that one grand final (the 3-0 loss in 2015).

"We enjoy playing them; it's like our second derby.

"We're fit and ready and have an extremely strong squad."

Source: AAP