Melbourne City vs Western United Prediction & Betting Tips - A-League

Prediction published on 19/10/2023, 13:31  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 19/10/2023 at 14:32 in Football Predictions

Melbourne City host Western United in the first match of the new A-League season in Australia. Play-offs can be rather cruel at times, just ask Melbourne City. Last season saw them win the main season by 11 points, losing just three of their 26 games. They made it into the Grand Final but then astonishingly lost that 6-1 to Central Coast Mariners. That main season title win was their third in a row but only once in that time have they won the Grand Final. The loss to Central Coast Mariners was the last for their captain Scott Jamieson who has now retired. The City Boys have also seen Marco Tillo join Celtic and Jordan Bos transferred to Westerlo. New signings have included Udinese's Tolgay Arslan and Hamza Saki from Auxerre. Home form was the best in the A-League last season with 11 wins (10 in the main season) and three draws. Pre-season saw them reach the last four of the Australia Cup, losing to Sydney FC.

Western United finished seventh in the main A-League last season. That saw them miss out on the play-offs by one place and three points. They lost 12 of their 26 matches and only bottom-of-the-table Macarthur FC conceded more goals. Five away league games were won last season but despite a strong finish to the season the 2021/22 Grand Final winners missed out on a top six finish. They also lost to Sydney FC in the Australia Cup losin 3-0 in the quarter finals. Their last three games against Melbourne City have been lost with nine goals conceded. We tip City to get their league season off to a winning start.