Sydney vs Central Coast Mariners Prediction: Lolley to strike first again at Allianz Stadium

Sydney beat Perth Glory 3-0 on Wednesday to secure their first win of 2025 and the Sky Blues be targeting a second success of the calendar year on Saturday (08:35, TNT Sports 1) when they take on Central Coast Mariners at Allianz Stadium.

Read below for my Sydney vs Central Coast Mariners prediction, complete with all the latest team news and match odds, ahead of this Australian A-League Men's contest.

Team News

Brazilian winger Douglas Costa is still out injured for Sydney but 22-year-old defender Alexandar Popovic is in line for a first appearance of the calendar year after shaking off an issue that kept him sidelined for Wednesday's win and the 2-2 draw at Newcastle Jets four days beforehand.

Football Odds

Miguel Di Pizio, Brad Tapp, Nicholas Duarte, Lucas Mauragis and Brad Tapp are still in the Central Coast Mariners treatment room but Sabit Ngor and Noah Smith, left out of the squad that won 3-1 at Brisbane Roar last Friday, are back in the mix.

Sydney vs Central Coast Mariners Odds

Sydney lost 2-1 over two legs to Central Coast Mariners in last season's ALM play-offs and suffered a 2-1 defeat to Mark Jackson's side in Gosford last month but are 8/15 favourites on Saturday, giving the Sky Blues an implied win probability of 65.2%. The Mariners, meanwhile, are 4/1, or a 20% chance, to do the double over their opponents.

The draw is priced at 3/1, both teams to score at 4/7, and over 2.5 total goals at 1/2.

Sydney star Joe Lolley, who hit a hat-trick on Wednesday, is 11/10 favourite in the anytime goalscorer market followed by teammate Patryk Klimala (23/20) with Alou Kuol (11/5) first up for the visitors.

Match Result & Both Teams to Score - Sydney & Yes @ 7/4

Sydney and the Mariners are fourth and fifth, respectively, in the ALM 'Both Teams to Score' table, and more often than not, their games end with at least one goal on either side. For Sydney, 73 per cent (eight) of their 11 league games this season have seen both teams score while the Mariners are slightly behind on 64 per cent (seven), though all four of their away matches have seen BTTS - Yes land.

Both teams scored in December's reverse fixture and seven of their last nine head-to-heads (all competitions) since Sydney thrashed their opponents 5-0 in April 2022.

Saturday's hosts have kept two clean sheets in their last three games but prior to those shutouts hadn't recorded one the whole season while the Mariners have only two to their name and none since round three on November 2. Both teams scored three goals in their most recent match and I would be surprised if we didn't see Sydney and CCM get on the scoresheet at Allianz Stadium.

Sydney are who I'm backing for victory, though, with two wins from their last three games. They beat a poor Perth Glory side in midweek but also outclassed Melbourne Victory (3-0) at the end of last year and are now unbeaten in their last four, taking maximum points in three of their last four at home, too.

The Mariners, meanwhile, only edged past a winless Brisbane Roar side last time out, with the scores level at 1-1 until Harrison Steele struck in the 81st minute and Arthur De Lima made sure of the victory deep into stoppage time. Before that triumph, the Gosford club were winless in their last four since beating Sydney 2-1 on December 8, and that success can be heavily attributed to the red card received by Sky Blues shot-stopper Harrison Devenish-Meares in the 42nd minute.

First Goalscorer - Joe Lolley (SYD) @ 4/1

Former Nottingham Forest favourite Lolley came up clutch for me in midweek, netting a 5/1 winner by scoring twice against Perth Glory. The 32-year-old actually went one further by completing his hat-trick in the 88th minute, and you can get 13/2 and 28/1, respectively, if you fancy him to bag a brace or another treble on Saturday.

Given the Mariners' defensive record isn't awful, with 17 goals conceded in 11 games so far, and Lolley has only struck once in five ALM matches against them, I'm steering clear of those markets this weekend.

However, 4/1 for Lolley to strike first at Allianz Stadium piques my interest given the Sky Blues star's stunning form which has him top of the Golden Boot charts at the time of writing, as well as the fact he has opened the scoring four times already this term, including twice in his last three games - both of which have been at home.

Offers

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