PREVIEW: Melbourne Derby stage set for Kewell return

The focus leading into Melbourne Derby X is all on Heart’s new skipper and Victory’s former marquee man. It's been a long and painful six months with little A-League football to get excited about but spare a thought for Harry Kewell who is currently going through the longest off-season that sport has ever seen.

Not including his very brief spell at Qatari club Al-Gharfa, Harry Kewell has been out of action since March 2012. That equates to an awful lot of beep tests, fitness sessions and trial games in regional cities across the country.

Will Harry remember what a football looks like? Will old habits kick into gear and he'll find himself in the Victory huddle before kick-off? Or can he further rile Victory fans and star for Heart as they take the three points in this monster first round fixture?

Saturday night will set the tone for Harry and Melbourne Heart for the upcoming season. One of two things will happen. He'll either turn it on and everybody will be savouring in the Kewell renaissance, or he'll struggle to keep up with the pace of the match and become little more than a passenger. No matter what your pedigree or past glories may be, such a long layoff from competitive football can only be detrimental to your game, even if you are considered the best player this country has produced.

Melbourne Victory know all about what life with Harry can bring, and have since steered clear from a big name signing and put together a solid and balanced squad. Victory had a stinker of a start to the campaign last year, going down to Heart in their opening game of the season 2-1 followed by a 5-0 demolition at the hands of Brisbane Roar in week two. Ange Postecoglou will be hell bent on making sure those scenes are not repeated.

Interestingly Victory have never won the opening derby fixture to a season before. Heart have claimed the three points in the first derby of the season twice, including the smash-and-grab number they did on Victory at Etihad last year, with a 0-0 draw in the mix also. Victory have firmed as a legitimate title contender this season and will be out for a big win against their main foes to back up that claim.

This is a real make or break year for Melbourne Heart who will need dramatic improvement from their second last placing on the ladder last year. On top of Kewell, Heart have recruited well in the off-season signing Massimo Murdocca, Iain Ramsey, and Patrick Kisnorbo. Midfield appears to be a strength for Heart with some real talent in the middle of the park. They do however look a touch flat up front and will rely on Kewell to do the work in front of goal with main target man and new signing Michael Mifsud missing while on international duty for Malta. If Kewell doesn't score on Saturday night it is hard to see who will.

Victory themselves have recouped well over the off-season and their recruitments will be out to start strongly for their new club. New marquee man Pablo Contreras will make his debut for and will be out for a strong defensive opening. Victory were at times a mess in defence last season and will look to the Chilean to rectify that issue. Saturday will also determine how Victory go about themselves being Marco Rojas-less this season. The Kiwi Messi was huge for Victory last year and leaves a massive gap in attack. Connor Pain must start the season strongly to allay any fears that Rojas will be missed this year.

Whilst Victory go into this game without any injury concerns they will be without Mark Milligan and Kosta Barbarouses through international call ups. Mifsud is out for Heart, as is sexy giant Orlando Engelaar, who'll miss the majority of the season with a broken leg.

It's hard to see Victory losing this one, so if you fancy a cheeky bet on the navy blue head to our friends at Luxbet. The loss of captain Milligan is a huge disadvantage but he should be adequately covered by new signing James Troisi. Heart have always punched above their weight in derby fixtures and will make life hard for Victory. This won’t be an easy three points, despite Luxbet having Melbourne Victory firm favourites at $1.97. Heart meanwhile are out at $3.60.

So this Saturday gives us the second instalment of Harry’s Homecoming. While this may seem like a repeat of an earlier episode, viewers of the previous season will no doubt tune in to see if the storyline has changed this time around. There is always a plot twist in the Melbourne Derby match, and this one promises to be juicy.