Melbourne City vs Auckland Prediction: Goal-shy hosts stifled by stingy Black Knights

Last season's top two teams in the Australian A-League Men's, runners-up and Grand Final winners Melbourne City, and Premier's Plate champions Auckland FC, face off at the former's AAMI Park on Friday (08:35 GMT, TNT Sports 1) in the first fixture of Round 13.

Below are my Melbourne City vs Auckland predictions, alongside all the latest team news and match odds, as the sides meet for the first time in 2025/26, with the hosts trailing leaders Auckland by seven points.

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Team News

Former Melbourne Victory midfielder Ryan Teague is in line to make his Melbourne City debut this weekend after joining earlier in the week on loan from Belgian Pro League club Mechelen.

Young defender Besian Kutleshi has been promoted to Aurelio Vidmar's extended squad, but Mathew Leckie (hip), Takeshi Kanamori (groin), Elbasan Rashani (hamstring), Dakota Ochsenham and Kavian Rahmani (both knee) are sidelined with injuries.

Football Odds

As for Auckland, head coach Steve Corica has a full-strength squad to work from, and he could name the same starting XI that beat Brisbane Roar 2-0 last Friday, meaning the likes of Guillermo May, Luis Felipe Gallegos and Jake Girdwood-Reich will have to settle for substitute roles again.

Melbourne City vs Auckland Odds

Melbourne City, with just one win in their last six games (D2, L3), are slight favourites at 7/5, implying a 41.7% probability of success, while Auckland are 7/4, or a 36.4% chance, to collect all three points at AAMI Park.

Last season's corresponding fixture finished 2-2 in December 2024, and another stalemate between the two teams on Friday is priced at 21/10, with a repeat of that scoreline offered at 12/1.

Player to Receive a Card - Louis Verstraete (AKL) @ 21/10

Auckland midfielder Louis Verstraete received six yellow cards and one red in his debut ALM campaign (2024/25), and he's been cautioned three times this term, most recently going into the book in the Black Knights' final match of 2025, a 2-0 win at Western Sydney Wanderers on December 19.

The 26-year-old is averaging 1.8 fouls per game in this season's ALM and has committed 11 fouls across his three competition appearances this calendar year against Newcastle Jets (five), Macarthur FC (three) and Brisbane Roar (three).

Today's Football Fixtures

On Friday, the Belgian could be in close quarters with City's Andreas Kuen, who is averaging 1.5 fouls won per game and has been upended twice in each of his last two appearances.

Macarthur midfielder Luke Brattan was the last player to go into the book for an unfair challenge on the Austrian, in a 1-1 draw at AAMI Park on December 23.

Melbourne Victory midfield duo Jordi Valadon and Louis D'Arrigo, as well as Perth Glory midfielder Rhys Bozinovski, were all booked earlier in the season for fouling the 30-year-old, while Adelaide United full-back Dylan Pierias was handed his marching orders for an offence committed against him.

To Win to Nil - Auckland @ 7/2

This game pits the team with the division's third-worst attack, City (12 goals), against its joint-second-best defence, Auckland (11 conceded).

City have blanked in five separate matches this season, including two of their last three, the most recent of which they lost 1-0 at home to Brisbane Roar.

Auckland, meanwhile, kept their fourth clean sheet of the campaign last Saturday, beating Brisbane Roar 2-0 at Suncorp Stadium to record their third shutout in six away games.

The Black Knights won to nil in the last head-to-head, a 3-0 victory over City in New Zealand last January, and Corica's charges could frustrate Vidmar's men again on Friday.

Nick Ware P/L 25/26 ALM Season (After GW12)

 P/L: +9.23%