A slightly truncated Round 6 of the A-League kicks off in Adelaide with the Reds looking to keep their unbeaten start to the season intact.
Unsurprisingly they have been installed as short priced favourites over the struggling Perth Glory, who suffered another multiple goal loss during Unite Round.
As it stands, the Glory have conceded 16 goals through five games and that defence is struggling in a big way.
This one boils down to how much the Reds will win by and one player in particular to keep an eye on is Archie Goodwin who had a big impact after coming on in the second half to score against Brisbane.
BEST: Adelaide Halftime/Fulltime $2.00 | VALUE: Archie Goodwin Anytime Goalscorer
Still perfect, still on top of the league and still yet to concede a goal in their A-League life.
It’s looking pretty good for Auckland FC and it looks like the market is catching up to them with the new boys short priced favourites.
Newcastle has lost three of four this season and it’s tough to see how they can match up with Auckland.
However it might not be a large margin of victory, Auckland’s matches have all gone under the total goals number and this might be a bit more of a low scoring grind it out effort for Auckland.
BEST: Auckland to Win $1.57 | VALUE: Auckland to Win and Under 2.5 Goals $4.20
Melbourne City will play just their second home game of the 2024/25 A-League season this weekend and they will be very fresh having been the unlucky recipients of a bye in Unite Round.
Their last outing was a 5-0 win in Perth on November 10, so the pressure will be on Aurelio Vidmar to ensure that his side does not have any rust coming out of the blocks.
If their attack can fire on the same level as it did in Perth, they should be able to put up a big score on a Wanderers team that has been inconsistent at best.
For the second time in three matches, the Red and Black part of Sydney let in four goals in a game, this time to local rivals Sydney FC.
Melbourne City has a chance to make a big statement in this match and I like the chances of them doing just that.
BEST: Melbourne City to Win $1.78 | VALUE: Melbourne City to Win -2 Goals $5.25
Winless, pointless and maybe not quite hopeless yet, but it has been a dreadful start to the season for Brisbane Roar.
There were signs for optimism early on against Adelaide last weekend but a meek second half saw them surrender a 2-1 lead and go down 3-2 for the second time this season.
Perhaps even more troublingly, their results are alternating at the moment between 2-0 and 3-2 defeats, so are they due for another 2-0 effort?
Macarthur might not be the toughest out this season but on their day they can certainly put a team to the sword and they are favourites in this market for a reason.
BEST: Macarthur to Win $1.80 | VALUE: Macarthur to Win 1-0, 2-0 or 3-0 $4.50
You could talk yourself into this being a decent contest, if you want to believe that Western United’s win over Perth was a sign they are on the improve.
Doubly so if you think the Victory were found out by the Nix and they might have had their confidence shaken a bit.
Or you could reject both of those narratives and stick with the season in totality which suggests that the Victory are the better team here.
While their attack is not always fluid and free-flowing, they are defensively very strong and that loss to the Nix can be put down to playing a team that matches up very well with them.
Something that might not apply to Western United.
BEST: Melbourne Victory to Win $1.75 | VALUE: Under 1.5 Goals $4.20