Auckland vs Sydney Prediction: Sky Blues to show spirit in Klimala-inspired comeback success

Auckland FC made a winning start to life in the Australian A-League Men's last weekend, beating Brisbane Roar 2-0 at the Go Media Stadium, which is also the venue for their second game against Sydney FC on Sunday (03:00, TNT Sports 6).

Read below for my Auckland vs Sydney prediction, complete with all the latest team news and match odds, as the visitors look to build on a victory of their own in the Sydney derby.

Team News

Auckland head coach Steve Corica, who played and managed Sydney before being dismissed as Sky Blues boss last November, could name an unchanged starting XI for the visit of his former side on Sunday.

That would mean another start for Logan Rogerson, who scored in the second half against the Roar to double the advantage given to them by Harry Van Der Saag's early own goal.

Former Wellington Phoenix goalkeeper Alex Paulsen, on loan from AFC Bournemouth, made his league debut for Auckland last weekend and will aim to record successive clean sheets when Sydney come to town.

Corica appears to have a fully-fit squad but there is one change to their extended squad list from last time with Jonty Bidois dropping out for Neyder Moreno.

Football Odds

Sydney beat local rivals Western Sydney Wanderers 2-1 in their opening A-League Men's match last Saturday, Joe Lolley and off-season signing Patryk Klimala striking either side of an effort from WSW's Aydan Hammond. The duo are expected to start in attack again in Auckland with the ban given to Klimala for his red card in Wednesday's 2-1 Afc Champions League defeat to Hiroshima only applicable to the competition in which he was sent off.

Former Bayern Munich and Juventus winger Douglas Costa completes an exciting front three, which is backed up by attacking midfielder Anas Ouahim.

Luke Brattan, however, must serve a suspension for the red card he received in last week's Sydney derby, although he was only a second-half substitute in that game, and thus the starting XI is unaffected by his absence.

Aaron Gurd also misses out through injury, but Pat Wood made his return to the Sky Blues' matchday squad in Japan this week and could play his first A-League minutes since May 18 this weekend.

Auckland vs Sydney Odds

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

Auckland are 9/5 to make it back-to-back successes, giving the New Zealanders an implied win probability of 35.7%, while Sydney are 23/20, or a 46.5% chance, to do so themselves.

The draw, meanwhile, is priced at 5/2, and both teams to score at 4/9.

Klimala (7/5) leads the anytime goalscorer market followed by teammates Lolley and Wood (7/4), who are joined on those odds by Auckland pair Guillermo May and Max Mata.

Match Result & Both Teams To Score - Sydney & Yes @ 12/5

This is unlikely to be an easy match for Sydney, who will have really racked up the air miles by the end of the weekend following their trip earlier in the week to and from Hiroshima.

Auckland will be buoyed by their opening-round win against Brisbane and are expected to be backed again by a 20k-plus capacity Go Media Stadium. The Black Knights scored twice in their inaugural A-League Men's match and should be confident of getting on the scoresheet again on Sunday having seen Sydney fail to keep a clean sheet in all four games on their travels this season.

The Sky Blues beat Filipino side Kaya 2-1 in Manila in their second Afc Champions League 2 contest earlier this month before beating Western Sydney Wanderers 2-1 at CommBank Stadium last Saturday and losing 2-1 to Hiroshima in Japan on Wednesday.

Talay's side also conceded three times in their one and only Australia Cup tie in July, going down 3-1 at NPL Victoria outfit Oakleigh in the round of 32.

Given their exertions in midweek, I'm not convinced the Sky Blues can claim a first clean sheet since September 19, when they shutout Hong Kong side Eastern AA in their opening continental fixture, which they won 5-0 at the Nestrata Jubilee Stadium in Sydney.

However, I do think there is enough quality in their ranks to ensure they pick up all three points by the time the final whistle is blown.

I mentioned it in my Sydney derby preview last week, but I just don't think any other club in the league can compete with their front three of Costa, Lolley and Klimala, who are ably supported by Ouahim.

Sunday's visitors to the Go Media Stadium will have to work for this win, but I think their quality will eventually shine through in what could be a high-scoring encounter in Auckland.

Bet Builder - Method of Victory (Sydney win from behind) & Anytime Goalscorer (Patryk Klimala - SYD) @ 10/1

I'm stepping things up a few notches for my second selection and backing Sydney to come from behind to win, with an effort from Klimala to boot.

I've already touched on the possibility that Sydney could start slowly on Sunday given this is their second away game in a second continent in the space of a few days. They went a goal down fairly early on in Japan as Shunki Higashi opened the scoring for Hiroshima in the 20th minute and it took until the 90th minute for Adrian Segecic to respond to that and Pieros Sotiriou's 55th-minute strike.

That was the third time already this season that the Sky Blues have conceded first having initially done so in their Australia Cup defeat to Oakleigh before also going behind in Manila to Kaya. The Filipino side scored in the third minute through Daizo Horikoshi but Sydney rallied to equalise 23 minutes later via Lolley, and in the second half, Klimala bagged a brace. Nathan Amanatidis also got on the scoresheet later on.

Auckland came up clutch for me in one of my tips last week, netting a 19/20 winner by scoring first in their win over the Roar, and I think they can make another fast start on Sunday.

The Black Knights may not be a goal to the good in eight minutes as they were last Saturday but they will look to strike early again to unsettle a Sydney side that may be feeling the effects of their travels.

Ultimately, though, I expect the visitors to come back and triumph, aided by a goal from Klimala, who got off the mark in the A-League Men's last weekend with a winner in the Sydney derby. It was a proper striker's goal from the Polish forward, who has taken in spells at Scottish giants Celtic and USA outfit the New York Red Bulls in a nomadic career so far.

The 26-year-old is not fondly remembered in Glasgow but he did net 13 times across two seasons in MLS and already has three goals in his first four Sydney appearances.

With Lolley and Costa providing the ammunition in attack, there's no excuse for Klimala not to be pushing toward the 15, 20-goal mark in the A-League, and I think he can boost his chances of reaching those numbers with another strike on Sunday.

Offers

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