New year, new players, new coaches.
The A-League is back for season 2021/22 and so are the BetDeluxe betting previews for all the big fixtures.
Current A-League champion Melbourne City kicks off the season against Brisbane Roar on Friday night at AAMI Park.
Melbourne City vs. Brisbane Roar
november 19th 7:45pm
Friday night under the lights of AAMI Park as reigning champion Melbourne City welcomes Brisbane Roar to Melbourne.
The City squad will be buzzing with anticipation of going back-to-back this season and will be wanting to put forward a good showing to their home fans in the season-opener.
Brisbane, however, brings in some solid FFA Cup form after pummelling the Queensland Lions 4-0 in late October.
The Roar will be seething from their elimination final loss last season and on the hunt to better their fourth-place finish on the final regular standings.
From a betting perspective, City does look under the odds at $1.5.
Premiership hangovers can often occur early in the season and taking $1.50 is fraught with danger.
Prediction: Melbourne City 1 Brisbane Roar 1
Suggested bets: Draw at $4.35
western sydney wanderers vs. sydney fc
November 20th 7:45pm
If a game with the A-League champion is not enough to get us buzzing about the new season, then a Sydney derby between foes Western Sydney and Sydney FC.
There will definitely be a steely resolve about the Sky Blues this season after failing to defend their champion status last season.
But as we have come to know with these two teams, it is always a difficult game to split.
Sydney hold the advantage from a head to head perspective over history with 13 wins compared to the Wanderers seven.
Steve Corica has kept a relatively similar squad to last season without a huge amount of change to the main line-up, while Western Sydney will likely unveil their newest signing in Japanese winger Keijiro Ogawa.
This will be a cracking contest between two attacking-minded teams, so expect goals in this one.
Prediction: Western Sydney Wanderers 2 Sydney FC 2
Suggested bet: Draw at $3.5
western united vs. melbourne victory
november 20th 7:45pm
New coaches and whole heap of new players will be unveiled when Western United takes on Melbourne Victory at GMHBA Stadium.
John Aloisi will front up as the new coach for Western United, while Tony Popovic makes his return from overseas to take the helm of Melbourne Victory after a shocking 2020/21 season.
Both teams finished well below the top six last season and will be looking to make amends.
Western United have bolstered their front half by signing Dylan Wenzel-Halls from Brisbane as well as Aleksandar Prijovic from Ittihad.
Victory, meanwhile, has strengthened the middle of the park and will likely show off new midfielders Josh Brillante and Christopher Ikonomidis.
The boys in blue will be up and about for this contest, but might just take a little time to really gel together early in the season.
Prediction: Western United 1 Melbourne Victory 0
Suggested bet: Western United head to head at $2.80
Perth glory vs. adelaide united
november 20th 10:05pm
Daniel Sturridge will make his debut for Perth Glory when they host Adelaide United on Saturday night at HBF Stadium.
Sturridge was announced as one of the biggest marquee signings of the season and will be sure to add huge goal-scoring prowess for an already strong front half.
Defensively is where Glory need to tighten up having conceded 44 goals last season which ranked bottom four in the league, while the Reds will be looking to improve on their semi-final defeat last season.
This is another very difficult game to split but we will side with the home team.
Prediction: Perth Glory 2 Adelaide United 1
Suggested Bet: Perth Glory head to head at $2.20
newcastle jets vs. central coast mariners
november 21st 4:05pm
Another derby to get us in the mood for the A-League with the M3 Derby between Newcastle Jets and Central Coast Mariners.
The Mariners were the huge surprise packet of last season after charging up from being handed the wooden spoon to third place, while the Jets struggles continued as they finished second last.
But with a new season comes new hopes.
New Jets coach Arthur Papas has been coined as Ange Postecoglou’s protege and might very well be the man to produce a Mariners-like charge up the table.
Papas and the Jets have managed to secure the signatures of experienced Greek forward Savvas Siatravanis as well as Cameroon international Olivier Boumal and Brazilian prospect Daniel Penha.
All signs are pointing to big improvement from the Jets season.
Prediction: Newcastle Jets 2 Central Coast Mariners 1
Suggested Bet: Newcastle head to head at $2.35
macarthur FC vs. wellington phoenix
november 21st 6:15pm
Macarthur welcomes Wellington Phoenix to Campbelltown Sports Stadium for its season opener on Sunday night.
The Bulls were fantastic in their inaugural A-League season and will be looking to make more inroads this time around, while the Phoenix battled well to just miss out on the top six despite being based away from home the whole season.
The refresher for Wellington would have done it a world of good, but the Bulls are going to prove a tough nut to track having bolstered their attacking options with Tomi Juric and Craig Noone signing in the off-season.
The Bulls should be able to kickstart their season with a win at home, but the Phoenix will make them earn every bit of it.
Prediction: Macarthur FC 1 Wellington Phoenix 0
Suggested Bet: Macarthur FC head to head at $2.25
