Auckland vs Macarthur Prediction: Bulls’ long wait for a win goes on

Macarthur FC's winless run in the Australian A-League Men's stretched to six games last weekend with a 4-1 hammering at Melbourne Victory, which was also their fourth consecutive defeat. The Bulls face a tough task to avoid a fifth straight loss on Saturday (02:00 GMT, TNT Sports 2) when they take on Auckland FC, who are six matches unbeaten (W4, D2), at Go Media Stadium.

Below are my Auckland vs Macarthur predictions, supported by all the latest team news and match odds.

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Team News

Hiroki Sakai (hamstring), Nando Pijnaker (ankle) and winger Oli Sail (knee) remain sidelined for Steve Corica's Auckland.

Football Odds

As for Macarthur, Mile Sterjovski is still missing Bernardo Oliveira, Kristian Popovic (both unspecified), Harry Politidis and Ji Dong-won (both ankle), but Tomislav Uskok and Alexander Robinson, who both missed last Sunday's 4-1 defeat to Melbourne Victory through suspension, are free to return this weekend.

Auckland vs Macarthur Predicted Lineups

• Auckland: Woud; Elliot, Hall, Girdwood-Reich, De Vries; Rogerson, Howieson, Gallegos, Randall; May, Cosgrove
• Macarthur: Kurto; Talbot, Da Silva, Uskok, Scott; Brattan; Vickery, Caceres, Bosnjak, Duran; Sawyer

Auckland vs Macarthur Odds

Auckland are 3/5 favourites, implying a 62.5% probability of success, with Macarthur 7/2, or a 22.2% chance, and the draw offered at 3/1.

Double Chance & BTTS - Auckland or Draw & Yes @ 1/1

Auckland wobbled in the second half of January, losing 2-1 at both Melbourne City and Perth Glory, either side of a 2-2 draw at home to Central Coast Mariners, but they've since embarked on a six-game unbeaten run, four of which have finished in their favour.

Macarthur, by contrast, are six matches without a victory in the ALM, and eight without one across all competitions.

The Bulls have never beaten the Black Knights, losing home (0-1) and away (2-1) last season before holding Corica's charges to a 1-1 draw at Campbelltown Stadium on January 5.

Today's Football Fixtures

So, I'm confident Auckland can at least avoid defeat on Saturday, but I think Macarthur can enough in their arsenal to score at Go Media Stadium.

Sterjovski's side may be six games without a league win, but they've scored in four of those matches, including both defeats this month at home to Central Coast Mariners (1-3) and away to Melbourne Victory (4-1).

Auckland boast the joint-best defensive record in the division, conceding 21 times in as many games, the same as Sydney FC, but they've only kept two clean sheets across their last five, failing to record one so far this month as they followed up a 2-2 draw at home to Perth Glory with a 2-1 win at Newcastle Jets.

Anytime Goalscorer - Harrison Sawyer (MAC) @ 11/5

Since arriving at the club in January, Mitch Duke has established himself as Macarthur's main man up top, but having scored just twice in 10 appearances, and none in his last six, it may be time to hand Harrison Sawyer another start in attack on Saturday.

Sawyer enjoyed a great end to the 2024/25 campaign, and he started well this season, netting five times in 10 ALM appearances before the turn of the year, when Duke officially joined the Bulls.

However, the 29-year-old has been restricted to just three league starts in 2026, scoring just once, as a substitute in the 6-2 thrashing of Melbourne City on January 24, although he came off the bench to grab an equaliser in his side's 2-2 draw with Bangkok United in the first leg of their AFC Champions League 2 tie on February 19.

Even if he comes off the bench again on Saturday, Sawyer poses a big goalscoring threat with his height and power, so I like his odds to score here.