Brisbane Roar vs Melbourne City Prediction: Yellow for Youstin at Suncorp

Brisbane Roar and Melbourne City open up gameweek three of the 2025/26 Australian A-League Men’s season on Friday (08:35 GMT, TNT Sports 2) at Suncorp Stadium. I backed 8/5 and 23/20 winners in last week's Melbourne City-Perth Glory preview, so let's hope for another clean sweep this time around.

Below are my Brisbane Roar vs Melbourne City predictions, accompanied by all the latest team news and match odds.

Team News

Brisbane Roar quartet Henry Hore (hamstring), Nathan Amanatidis (quad), Ben Halloran (knee) and Austin Ludwik (groin) are out injured, but Dimitri Valkanis, son of head coach Michael, returns from suspension.

Football Odds

James Nieuwenhuizen (ACL), Lawrene Wong (MCL), Alessandro Lopane (ankle), Harry Shillington (concussion), Elbasan Rashani, Samuel Souprayen and Medin Memeti (all hamstring) are all out for Melbourne City, who are boosted by the return of Andrew Nabbout, almost one year on from a season-ending ACL tear.

Brisbane Roar vs Melbourne City Odds

Brisbane Roar lost all three head-to-heads last season, and Friday’s hosts are 11/4, or a 26.7% chance, to beat Melbourne City for the first time since a 5-1 win at Suncorp in February 2024. Aurelio Vidmar’s side, meanwhile, are 5/6 to claim back-to-back wins following last week’s victory over Perth Glory, implying a 54.5% probability of success.

A first draw between the two teams since January 2023 is priced at 12/5, and you can back both teams to score for a sixth time in the last seven meetings at 4/5.

Player to Receive a Card - Youstin Salas (BRI) @ 11/5

Brisbane Roar right-back Youstin Salas, who is on a season-long loan from Sporting San Jose in his homeland of Costa Rica, has started both of his new side’s ALM games this term, playing the duration of the 1-0 victory over Macarthur FC and the 2-1 loss at Wellington Phoenix.

The 29-year-old didn’t commit a foul against the Bulls on opening weekend, but against the Nix in New Zealand last weekend, he conceded two free-kicks.

Salas arrived at the Roar with a reputation for receiving cards, highlighted by the four yellows and one red issued to him in five league appearances for Sporting San Jose this year before he left for the ALM, where, in his only previous campaign, for the Nix in 2023/24, he was cautioned five times in 12 matches.

Today's Football Fixtures

On Friday, the Costa Rican could be marking Takeshi Kanamori, who started on the left for City in their 4-0 victory over Perth Glory last weekend, and was fouled once. Midfielder Andreas Kuen also spent a lot of his time down the left-hand side of City’s attack, and the 30-year-old was upended three times, with Glory’s Rhys Bozinovski booked for one unfair challenge on the Austrian.

Kuen averaged 1.4 fouls won per game in the ALM last season, again doing a lot of his work on the left-hand side of the pitch, so Salas may have a couple of tricky players to deal with on Friday, and that could lead him to the referee’s notebook.

Anytime Goalscorer - Samuel Klein (BRI) @ 13/2

City boasted the best defensive record in last season’s ALM, conceding just 25 times in 26 games, and their back line stayed mean in the finals as they kept two clean sheets across their three matches.

After two league contests this term, City have only conceded once, so backing an opposing player, particularly one in a side that finished second bottom last season, 27 points behind Vidmar’s men, may not appear wise.

However, at 13/2, I’m chancing my arm on Roar midfielder Samuel Klein, who ended the 2024/25 campaign in terrific goalscoring form.

The 21-year-old failed to find the net in his first 11 league games last season, but struck five times in his final eight, which included braces against Perth Glory and Central Coast Mariners.

Klein shot twice in the Roar’s opening game this season against Macarthur, forcing a save with his second effort, and against the Nix last week, he hit the post with his only shot, a header in the ninth minute.

Given the odds on offer here, I’ll take a punt on Klein to score anytime on Friday.

Offers

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