Adelaide United vs Sydney Prediction: Goodwin back with a bang

Adelaide United and Sydney FC open up the 2025/26 Australian A-League Men’s campaign on Friday (09:00 BST, TNT Sports 1), when they face off at Coopers Stadium.

Below are my Adelaide United vs Sydney predictions, supported by all the latest team news and match odds.

Team News

It’s been another off-season of turnover for Adelaide, who saw their two Spanish veterans, Javi Lopez and Isaias, both retire and take coaching roles at the club.

James Delianov, Archie Goodwin, Zach Clough and Stefan Mauk also departed the Reds.

One Goodwin out, one Goodwin in, though, as Craig moved back to Adelaide for his fourth spell. The 33-year-old has been named captain and will be vital to their chances of a positive season.

Joshua Smits, Anselmo de Moraes, Juan Muniz and Jake Najdovski have also joined Airton Andrioli’s side. However, Anselmo misses out on Friday as he continues to build up his fitness.

Jay Barnett (illness) is out, too, as are the injured quartet Austin Ayoubi, Julian Kwaaitaal, Ryan White and Joey Garuccio (all unspecified).

Football Odds

Sydney head coach Ufuk Talay has confirmed that off-season arrival Marcel Tisserand, who had his minutes managed during pre-season after suffering a hamstring injury with previous club Al-Ettifaq, will start at Coopers.

However, new signing Akon Akol, who has joined the Sky Blues from local rivals Western Sydney Wanderers, won’t feature in Adelaide after being left at home.

Corey Hollman and Joe Lacey both sustained ankle injuries in last week’s Perth friendly and will sit out on Friday.

New visa signings Victor Campuzano and Piero Quispe could make their debuts, though, while Al Hassan Toure, Abel Walatee, Paul Okon-Engstler and Rhys Youlley are all looking to make their league bows after featuring in Sydney’s Australia Cup run, which came to an end in the quarter-finals against Auckland (1-2) on August 23.

Goalkeeper Harrison Devenish-Meares returns to the squad following ankle ligament surgery and will battle it out with 19-year-old shot-stopper Gus Hoefsloot for the number one jersey.

Adelaide United vs Sydney Odds

Adelaide, winless in their last four games against Sydney, are 7/5, or a 41.7% chance, to secure a first victory over the Sky Blues since January 2024, while the visitors can be backed at 6/4 (40%), with the draw priced at 12/5.

Betfred are offering several Price Boosts, including Craig Goodwin To Score The First Goal at 7/1 (was 6/1).

Anytime Goalscorer - Craig Goodwin (ADL) @ 9/5

Goodwin hasn’t played a competitive game since starting Al-Wehda’s 2-1 victory over Al-Okhdood on May 10, undergoing foot surgery during the off-season.

However, the Socceroo is now back fit and looks set to start Friday’s curtain raiser at Coopers.

Goodwin crushed the ALM the last time he played in it, scoring 15 goals and registering 10 assists in 28 appearances before leaving, once again, for Saudi Arabia. He’s struck 10+ goals in his last three full league seasons in Australia, netting eight times in 18 outings during the 2020/21 campaign, when he joined the Reds midway through.

Today's Football Fixtures

The left-footed winger notched six goals in each of the last two Saudi Pro League seasons for Al-Wehda and will be expected to lead the way for Adelaide in 2025/26.

I’m backing Goodwin, who has scored more goals against Sydney (10) than any other opponent in his career, to inflict more pain on the Sky Blues this week.

Total Goals - Over 4.5 @ 3/1

I know that this is the opening fixture of a new season, and, traditionally, they can be cagey contests, but Adelaide and Sydney have served up some thrillers in recent years, so I'm siding with history and backing a goalfest at Coopers on Friday.

When these sides last met, at this very stadium in April, there was only one first-half goal, scored in the 18th minute by Sky Blues striker Patryk Klimala (now at FC Seoul), but there were four struck after the interval, with the visitors claiming a 3-2 win.

Earlier in the year, Sydney beat Adelaide 4-1 at Allianz Stadium, while the first meeting of the season was a six-goal thriller as the sides drew 3-3 at Coopers.

So, that's 5+ goals scored in each of the last three head-to-heads, and 16 struck across them.

Over 4.5 goals has been a winning selection in five of the last six matches between Adelaide and Sydney, who each scored 53 times in the ALM last season.

The Reds' ALM games in 2024/25 averaged 4.15 goals, as they were breached 55 times - only wooden spooners Perth Glory (56) had a worse defence.

Sydney's games, meanwhile, averaged 3.8 goals, as they conceded 46 times.

With the likes of Goodwin, Luka Jovanovic and Joe Lolley on the pitch at Coopers, there's enough firepower to rely on for the above selection to come through.

Offers

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