We are closing in on the midway point of the A-League season and there’s plenty of exciting action on the cards in Round 12.
Second placed Central Coast kicks off the weekend with a trip to Macarthur before Saturday’s headline clash sees the Victory travel to Adelaide with both sides desperate for a win.
We’ve got our tips and previews for all six matches this weekend below!
There’s plenty to look forward to in the first clash of Round 12 with Macarthur and Central Coast both coming off big wins last week.
The Mariners showed a ruthless streak when Adelaide went down to 10 men running riot and finishing with a 4-0 victory to make it 12 points from their last 15 on offer.
As for the Bulls, they produced a professional display in their 2-0 win over the Jets for their third win in their last four.
In each of those three wins the Bulls managed to keep a clean sheet, but it’s tough to see them keeping the Mariners at bay in their current form.
Take the visitors to come away with all three points here.
We’re in for a tense tussle on the peninsula to kick off the A-League’s Saturday slate as Brisbane takes on Wellington.
The Roar’s nine-match unbeaten run came to an end in Perth on Tuesday night and they will return home with an eye on starting a new streak.
They will have to do it without chief playmaker Jay O’Shea after his red card during the week, which will hamper their already limited attack.
Wellington will also be shorthanded after Nicholas Pennington and Bozhidar Kraev were dismissed in their hard fought win over Sydney last weekend.
Brisbane’s matches tend to be low scoring with overs hitting only twice so far for them this season and we’ll back their defensive solidarity to control the game.
No matter how these sides are travelling, when they face off at Coopers Stadium it’s always a must watch encounter.
Desperation will be the theme of this fixture with both sides coming off disappointing defeats in Round 11.
The Victory lost marquee man Nani to a torn ACL in their loss to the Roar while Adelaide had a nightmare in Gosford losing 4-0 and losing Isaias to a red card early in the second half which blew the game wide open in the Mariners favour.
Adelaide got the better of the Victory when they met at this venue two months ago and as long as they can keep 11 players on the pitch, they should be able to get the better of a Victory team in dire need of a course correction.
Fortress Macedonia claimed another victim during the week and now Perth will welcome an embattled Sydney FC side to the wild west.
Sydney will have spent the past week ruing missed chances as they were unable to take even a point off a nine-man Wellington outfit and this trip looms as a decisive one for coach Steve Corica.
History might be on the side of the Sky Blues, with Perth winning just one of the last nine matches between the two clubs.
However there is something brewing in the North-Western suburbs of Perth and we’ll take a shot on backing the home field advantage coming through for a side that has spent much of the last two campaigns on the road.
It’s first taking on third heading into the weekend as runaway league leaders Melbourne City can put even more distance between themselves and one of their primary challengers.
The last month has been a bit rough for the Wanderers with one win from their last five matches since the A-League resumed, while City has won three on the trot.
Perhaps the Wanderers will play up to the occasion and produce a performance closer to their 4-0 win over Macarthur a fortnight ago as opposed to their 1-0 defeat in Perth last week.
But at their current price, you have to back City to come away with a win, they’re on top of the A-League ladder for a reason.
Western Untied will take this match to one of their non-Melbourne home grounds as they host the Jets in Ballarat.
The head to head history favours John Aloisi’s side with Western United winning four of the last five meetings and the most recent encounter ending as a 1-1 draw.
While United were second best against the reigning premiers last weekend, they are a better side than that performance, while the Jets are still struggling to settle on an identity.
Having won two of their six matches and scored just three goals in that span, the Jets just don’t seem to have the consistency to compete in most matches so far.
Western United should be able to keep their attack at bay and find a way to score through Aleksandar Prijovic