Auckland vs Perth Glory Prediction: Black Knights to be crowned champions

There's almost certain to be a celebratory feel around Go Media Stadium on Sunday (06:00, TNT Sports 3) as Auckland FC host Perth Glory. Should Melbourne City beat Adelaide United on Saturday, the New Zealanders would just need to avoid defeat against Glory, while any dropped points for City would hand the Premiers' Plate to the Black Knights before they've kicked a ball.

Below are my Auckland vs Perth Glory predictions, supported by all the latest team news and match odds.

Team News

Auckland head coach Steve Corica has a fully fit crop to choose from this weekend, with Louis Toomey and Liam Gillian in his extended squad for the visit of Perth Glory.

The ALM leaders beat Melbourne Victory 2-0 at AAMI Park last weekend, and Corica may decide to reward his line-up there by naming an unchanged starting XI on Sunday.

Football Odds

Chilean midfielder Luis Felipe Gallegos was substituted just before half-time against Victory, but looks set to start against Glory.

Camerson Howieson, who came on for Gallegos in Melbourne, Marlee Francois and Neyder Moreno are potential starters if Corica does freshen things up.

David Williams (knee), Lachie Wales (Achilles) and Zach Lisolajski (ankle) remained sidelined for Perth Glory, who are battling to avoid the dreaded wooden spoon.

Head coach David Zdrilic has brought Tass Mourdoukoutas, Seb Despotovski and Takuya Okamoto into his extended squad for Sunday's trip to New Zealand.

Glory were handed a bye last weekend, meaning they haven't played since April 12, when they thrashed Adelaide United 4-1 at HBF Park. 19-year-old Jaylan Pearman was the star of the show against the Reds, bagging a brace and laying on a goal for Trent Ostler, and he's set to start in attack again on Sunday alongside leading marksman Adam Taggart, who opened the scoring last time out.

Auckland vs Perth Glory Odds

Auckland have won seven of their 12 home games this season, and the Black Knights are 2/7 to chalk up an eighth victory at Go Media Stadium on Sunday, implying a probability of 77.8%. Perth Glory, one of just two teams to beat Corica's side in 2024/25, are 7/1, or a 12.5% chance, to do the double over their higher-ranked opponents, who fell to a 1-0 defeat at HBF Park on January 11.

The draw is priced at 4/1, both teams to score at 8/11, and over 2.5 total goals at 4/9.

Nine-goal Auckland forward Guillermo May (1/1) heads the anytime goalscorer market, followed by Moreno (6/5) and Logan Rogerson, who have scored seven and eight goals, respectively, this season. Taggart (2/1) is considered Glory's most likely goalscorer, while Pearman is 4/1 to net in a third successive game.

To Win To Nil - Auckland @ 13/10

Glory hit Adelaide for four last time out, bringing an end to a four-game losing run, although one bright spark of those four defeats was the fact they managed to get on the scoresheet in all.

Auckland, meanwhile, so defensively solid for much of the season, winning 10 games to nil, have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last five home matches, although they did shut out Victory in Melbourne last weekend.

On Sunday, I'm backing the Black Knights to keep back-to-back clean sheets and bring up a first at Go Media Stadium since January 18.

At the time of writing, Melbourne City are still, mathematically at least, in the race to finish top, and I expect them to beat Adelaide on Saturday, which means Auckland would need only a draw to win the Premiers' Plate.

As a result, Corica's charges will look to keep things tight, avoiding any unnecessary risks, and that will harm Glory's chances of scoring, let alone achieving a positive result.

Zdrilic's side have lost their last four away games, failing to score in the first of those and netting just once in the last three. Sunday could be their toughest trip of the season, and I think they'll fail to do anything of note in New Zealand.

Anytime Goalscorer - Francis de Vries (AUC) @ 11/2

Auckland left-back Francis de Vries represents an interesting outside shot in the anytime goalscorer market on Sunday.

The 30-year-old has only scored twice this season, but the most recent of those two goals came earlier this month in a 2-2 draw at Sydney FC. De Vries shot three times in that Allianz Stadium stalemate, forcing saves from Sky Blues goalkeeper Harrison Devenish-Meares either side of his successful strike.

The previous week, De Vries hit the post against Western Sydney Wanderers in a 1-1 draw at Go Media Stadium. He also saw a free-kick saved by Central Coast Mariners shot-stopper Dylan Peraic-Cullen in a 2-2 draw in Auckland on March 16, meaning he has recorded four shots on target - one of which was a goal - in his last five appearances, as well as hit the woodwork.

The New Zealand international's shots-per-game average for the 2024/25 season is 0.5, while his shots-on-target-per-game average is 0.3, but over the last five matches, he has been averaging one and 0.8 per game, respectively.

On Sunday, De Vries will come up against the ALM's joint-leakiest defence, with only Adelaide (also 55) conceding as many goals this season as Glory, so don't be surprised to see him ghost in at the back post to score in a potentially historic day for the Black Knights.

Offers

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