NPL NSW side APIA Leichhardt host Melbourne Victory on Wednesday evening for a place in the semi-finals.
APIA are in red hot form in both league and cup competitions and are well placed to tackle the two-time Hahn Australia Cup winners.
Read our preview of the action below.
APIA Leichhardt v Melbourne Victory
Kick-off: 7.30pm AEST
Venue: Leichhardt Oval
Broadcast: Paramount+
Tickets
APIA Leichhardt have the chance to reach the Hahn Australia Cup semi-finals for the first time in their history when they take on Melbourne Victory.
The last time these sides played was in 2018, when APIA ‘Cupset’ Victory 3-2 in the Round of 16 to reach the quarter-final stage. They will take heart from that matchup, as well as the strength of member federation teams in general this year, with an already record breaking amount of 'Cupsets' in the book.
APIA reached this stage after an exhilarating penalty shootout victory against Sydney United 58. The scores were level at 1-1 after 120 minutes thanks to two high-quality goals in regulation time. Enter Oliver Kalac: the goalkeeper made three saves in the shootout to become the hero of the day and defeat their NSW rivals.
Kalac will no doubt have a big role to play if they are to overcome Victory on Wednesday. Seiya Kambayashi is another player to watch after scoring a stunning long-range strike in that fixture. His goalscoring ability, as well as his creativity in finding the likes of Presley Ortiz and Michael Konestabo, will be crucial.
Victory also required penalties to advance to the quarter-finals, with Jack Duncan making three saves against the Western Sydney Wanderers to help secure the win. Harry Sawyer scored his first competitive goal for Victory in extra time to help take it to the shootout.
New coach Giovanni Savarese took the team from the sidelines for the first time in the Round of 16 and will continue to impress his style of play on the team in this quarter-final clash.
While Victory do have pedigree in this competition, they have only reached the semi-finals once since lifting the trophy in 2021 and will be keen to put that right this year.
The winner will take on Sydney FC.
