Macarthur vs Sydney FC Prediction: Sky Blues to strike early again

Macarthur FC's penultimate fixture of the 2023/24 regular Australian A-League Men's season sees them host Sydney FC at Campbelltown Stadium on Saturday (TNT Sports 3, KO - 10:45), with both sides currently locked together on 38 points and already qualified for the finals.

However, there is still a lot to play for as finishing third or fourth ensures a home Elimination Final in week one. Read on for our Macarthur vs Sydney FC prediction, complete with all the latest team news and match odds.

Macarthur secured finals football last week with a dramatic late 2-1 win over Adelaide United at Coopers Stadium. The Bulls were a goal down inside 20 minutes thanks to a superb strike from teenage sensation Nestory Irankunda, and their chances of a positive result were further reduced in the 73rd minute following a red card shown to Yianni Nicolaou.

However, Macarthur showed tremendous resolve to turn the scoreline on its head through late goals from Ariath Piol and Tommy Smith.

Sydney FC, meanwhile, should still be on a high after a thrilling late victory of their own last weekend. The Sky Blues earned bragging rights in the Sydney derby after a 2-1 win against Western Sydney Wanderers that included two goals in injury time - an equaliser from WSW's Zak Sapsford and a subsequent winner from Jaiden Kucharski.

Ufuk Talay's side will have to step their game up from the last time they faced Macarthur, though. The Bulls won 2-0 at the Sydney Football Stadium on December 9 as an early red card for Sydney FC goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne left the hosts up against it, with Jake Hollman and Valere Germain doing the damage for the visitors.

Team News

The aforementioned Nicolaou will have to sit this one out as he serves a suspension, and Hollman is out in Qatar representing the Olyroos at the AFC U23 Asian Cup, but the Bulls will be boosted by the return to fitness of Kealey Adamson, who has missed the past two matches.

Captain Ulises Davila, however, is serving the first of a retrospective two-game ban for threatening Western United captain Joshua Risdon two weeks ago.

Sydney FC have a couple of players in Qatar themselves with Jordan Courtney-Perkins and Jake Girdwood-Reich named in the Olyroos squad.

Pat Wood and Joe Lacey are still recovering from their respective injuries but the Sky Blues can call on Robert Mak again after the Slovakian missed the Sydney derby through suspension.

Match Odds

Macarthur FC are 3/1 to do the double over Sydney FC, giving them an implied win probability of 25% for Saturday, while the visitors are 4/6, or a 60% chance to pick up all three points and secure a home Elimination Final.

The draw can be backed at 3/1, both teams to score at 2/5 and over 3.5 goals at 10/11.

First team to score - Sydney FC @ 4/7

Slow starts have been a regular feature of Macarthur's recent matches - they've gone a goal down in four of their last five, including last Friday's 2-1 win in Adelaide. Four of their last five in all competitions at Campbelltown Stadium have also seen the opposition score first.

Sydney FC have had no such issues. In fact, they have scored first in 15 of their previous 16 games, showing themselves to be early risers.

I think they can hit the Bulls early on here, too, as they go chasing a top-four spot at the expense of their opponents.

Draw or Sydney FC & over 2.5 goals @ 8/11

Macarthur deserve huge praise for their late fightback in Adelaide, but they were losing for the majority of that game and owe a lot to the Reds and their defensive issues for allowing them the opportunity to equalise and then win the match.

Prior to that victory, the Bulls had lost three out of four, suffering big defeats against Western United (2-4), WSW (1-3) and Central Coast Mariners (0-3).

It's been a mixed bag for Sydney FC recently, too, with defeats at Newcastle Jets (1-3) and Wellington Phoenix (1-2).

However, I think that win in the Sydney derby last week is the injection they needed to spur them on for the rest of the campaign.

They should have enough to avoid defeat against Macarthur, who are missing their talisman Davila among others. They also have the ability to score at least twice at Campbelltown Stadium, where the Bulls have conceded a couple in four of their last five.

Sydney FC have only kept two clean sheets in 25 A-League Men's matches, though, so we could see a goal or two from the hosts as well.

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