Auckland vs Brisbane Roar Prediction: Black Knights to begin with a bang in A-League Men’s

The Australian A-League Men's newest expansion club, Auckland FC, make their debut in the competition on Saturday (05:00, TNT Sports 1) as they welcome three-time Premiership winners Brisbane Roar to Go Media Stadium.

Below you can find my Auckland vs Brisbane Roar prediction, complete with all the latest team news and match odds, ahead of this first-round fixture in New Zealand.

Team News

Auckland, backed by American billionaire Bill Foley, were only established seven months ago and the club's first head coach, former Sydney FC boss Steve Corica, has had to build a completely new squad. Experienced Japanese full-back Hiroki Sakai, who spent five seasons with French giants Marseille before moving back to his homeland with the Urawa Red Diamonds in 2021, is Corica's standout capture so far, and the 34-year-old was this week announced as the club's first captain.

Sakai will be joined in defence by New Zealand international Tommy Smith and Daniel Hall, who have joined from Macarthur FC and the Central Coast Mariners, respectively. Smith's international teammate, Joey Champness, has also been tempted back to the A-League after spells in Turkey with Giresunspor and Adanaspor, while Scott Galloway provides further experience in the backline after moving from Melbourne City, where he won three Premierships and one Championship.

Another player with many games in Australia's top flight is 26-year-old midfielder Jake Brimmer, who moved to Auckland after four years at Melbourne Victory.

All the stars mentioned will be looking to protect the goal of New Zealand's number one shot-stopper Alex Paulsen who has, controversially, joined on loan from Foley's other football club, English Premier League AFC Bournemouth. The 22-year-old starred last season for New Zealand's other A-League side, Wellington Phoenix, where he won the Pfa’s Young Men’s Footballer of the Year award, in addition to the A-League Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year and the competition’s Fan Player of the Year.

Football Odds

Brisbane Roar aren't new to the league but they've been busy themselves in the transfer market after three seasons outside the play-off places, bringing in a hat-trick of new faces from Adelaide United - winger Ben Halloran, full-back Harry Van Der Saag and centre-back Ben Warland.

Other new arrivals include Indonesia star Rafael Struick (Den Haag) and Lebanon international Walid Shour (Al Ahed).

However, Marco Rojas (Wellington Phoenix), Nikola Mileusnic, Taras Gomulka (both Perth Glory), Carlo Armiento (Turris), Tom Aldred (Mohun Bagan), Jonas Markovski (Osaka) and Henry Hore (Gangwon, loan) have all moved on, leaving head coach Ruben Zadkovich with a lot to do as he plots a return to the top six.

Teenage striker Thomas Waddington looks set to spearhead the Roar's attack after a breakout 2023/24 campaign that saw him net seven times in 23 A-League appearances, and he is likely to be key to any success the club enjoys this season.

Auckland vs Brisbane Roar Odds

*Please click on the link above to be taken to the main Auckland vs Brisbane Roar page on betfred.com (or app) for all the live betting prices on this match.

Auckland are 6/4 to begin life in the A-League Men's with a victory, giving the Black Knights an implied win probability of 40%, the exact same as Brisbane (6/4), while the draw can be backed at 11/5.

Both teams to score is priced at 4/7 and Waddingham (15/8) leads the anytime goalscorer market, followed by Auckland's Max Mata and Guillermo May (both 2/1).

First Team to Score - Auckland @ 19/20

Auckland are yet to play a competitive fixture after only being formed earlier this year, and their only pre-season friendly against A-League opposition came away to Western Sydney Wanderers in August when they lost 4-2.

Therefore, as an unknown quantity, I am steering clear of result-based predictions on them until some patterns have begun to emerge.

Despite this, I am willing to back the Black Knights to score first on Saturday at just under EVS.

The club announced earlier this week that they were on track to sell out Go Media Stadium for its inaugural A-League Men's game, with more than 20,000 tickets already sold (the stadium holds around 25,000 at full capacity), dwarfing the crowds attracted by the last two expansion sides Western United (10,128) and Macarthur FC (7,723) on their debuts.

With a considerable number of fans behind them creating a carnival atmosphere, Auckland should be spurred on to begin life in the A-League Men's with a bang, and Brisbane could be caught cold.

Only Perth Glory (2.56) conceded more goals per game last season than the Roar (2.04), who conceded first on 14 occasions and may start slowly away in New Zealand.

Anytime Goalscorer - Thomas Waddingham (BR) @ 15/8

Waddingham heads the anytime goalscorer market for this game and for good reason, with Auckland's forward line lacking A-League experience.

Brisbane weren't exactly free-scoring last season with only two of the league's bottom-three sides - Western United (36) and the Newcastle Jets (39) - notching fewer goals than the 42 they managed in 27 matches, and only four of their players - Waddingham, Hore, Jay O'Shea (all seven) and Mileusnic (five) - found the net more than three times.

Two of them - Hore and Mileusnic - have since departed the club, piling the pressure on Waddingham and O'Shea to deliver in front of goal again this season.

Waddingham should be given plenty of opportunities to showcase his precocious talents this term and I think he will get into double figures for the Roar, which is sure to heighten interest in the 19-year-old from clubs abroad, with tentative links to Tottenham Hotspur already emerging in the summer.

Auckland have signed a highly-rated goalkeeper on loan in Paulsen and have brought in experienced defenders like Sakai, Galloway and Smith; however, it may take some time for the backline to gel, and they could be unsettled by the movement on Saturday of Waddingham, who looks a decent price at 15/8 to score anytime.

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