THE style-masters of Brisbane and Melbourne come together for what should be a classic semi-final on Sunday evening. Get all the key information in our Ultimate Guide.

WHAT, WHEN, WHERE: Brisbane Roar v Melbourne Victory, Sunday 5pm EST, Suncorp Stadium, Fox Sports 3HD

FORM GUIDE: Roar: LDWWD. Victory: WWDDL

MATCH ODDS: Roar $1.70, Draw $3.65, Victory $4.50

THE NE XT STEP: It’s simple — win and you’re in the grand final, lose and your season is over.

SQUADS: ROGIC MISSES OUT, LEIJER IN

ULTIMATE GUIDE: WANDERERS v MARINERS

TALE OF THE TAPE

The past and futures of these sides are inextricably linked. Ange Postecoglou created a dynasty at Brisbane before heading to Melbourne to do the same, only to have his vision cut short when offered the Socceroos job. After a shaky start when he replaced Postecoglou, Kevin Muscat has grown into the job and is now two games away from fulfilling his predecessor’s goal.

News_Rich_Media: Brisbane Roar star Thomas Broich says his side are fit and excited for Sunday’s semi-final against Melbourne Victory.

Then there’s Roar striker Besart Berisha, who will be one of the Victory’s biggest enemies on Sunday but will turn into their main weapon next season when he moves to Melbourne.

Despite all this, there are plenty of differences between these two teams, especially when it comes to the tale of their seasons. The Roar had a near-faultless run to the premiership, finishing 10 points clear at the top of the table with a consistency that other teams could only dream of.

The Victory had extreme highs and lows throughout the season but ended up finishing fourth. But now they face a daunting task heading to Suncorp Stadium — a place where they lost won back in November 2009.

LAST MEETING

A late wonder-strike by Luke Brattan helped Brisbane grab a 1-0 victory against Kevin Muscat’s side back in February, and that result also sealed the Premier’s Plate for the Roar.

News_Rich_Media: Melbourne Victory has been knocked out of the Asian Champions League after finishing Group G in third spot following a 0-0 draw with Jeonbuk Hyundai in South Korea.

STATS AMAZING

Thomas Broich is a hot favourite to take out the Johnny Warren Medal as player of the season for the second time, and a look at the stats gives an insight into just how influential the German has been this season. Broich has provided 10 assists in this campaign, and created a remarkable 86 chances for his teammates.

He’ll be pleased to know that the odds of him setting up one of his teammates for a goal is fairly high against the Victory, with the Melbourne side having gone 18 A-League matches without keeping a clean sheet.

News_Rich_Media: Melbourne Victory has been knocked out of the Asian Champions League after finishing Group G in third spot following a 0-0 draw with Jeonbuk Hyundai in South Korea.

KEY MATCH-UPS

Thomas Broich v Jason Geria

Broich likes to float around the park but spends a large chunk of his time on the left-wing, toying with a defender or two before cutting inside and wreaking havoc. 20 year-old right-back Jason Geria has the unenviable task of dealing with these Broich raids, and while the Victory youngster looks very dangerous going forward, he’ll have to spend plenty of time in his own third trying to shut down Brisbane’s main weapon.

News_Image_File: Thomas Broich is likely to be highly influential on Sunday. Picture: Darren England.

James Troisi v Matt Smith

The silky skills of James Troisi have been on full display over the past few weeks, with the Victory playmaker creating and scoring goals and generally pulling the strings in attack with impressive regularity. He faces a formidable obstacle on Sunday in the form of Brisbane skipper Matt Smith, who is composed on the ball but can be rather blunt without it.

News_Rich_Media: Brisbane Roar captain Matt Smith is focused on the task at hand, insisting his side haven't looked beyond this week's semi-final clash with Melbourne Victory.

WHAT THEY SAID

“I know it’s not an easy situation for him (Besart Berisha), but right now he’s a Brisbane Roar player and he acts completely that way. It’s just life. Sometimes you have to move on for whatever reasons, but he’s a great guy to have and he’s certainly one who can decide the big games for us.” Brisbane Roar star Thomas Broich.

“I think it will be a free-flowing game, we’re one game away from a grand final and it’ll come down to who’s more determined. Both teams play an attacking style, you won’t see us with 11 men behind the ball trying to get a result late on but the key is taking our chances.” Victory captain Mark Milligan.

MARK RUDAN’S VERDICT

This is the game that I would have loved to see in the grand final. Both teams like to play an attacking brand of football, and in the end it could come down to who can be more composed in front of goal.

The biggest thing Victory have improved on since their 3-0 thrashing by Brisbane back in January is their defensive structure.

But in saying that, I think Brisbane is going to be firing on all cylinders despite the two-week break, and I’m going to tip the Roar to win this match and host the grand final.

Originally published as Ultimate guide: Roar v Victory