Brisbane Roar vs Macarthur Prediction: Sawyer to hurt hosts again

After Adelaide United and Sydney FC kick off the 2025/26 Australian A-League Men’s campaign at Coopers Stadium on Friday, Brisbane Roar and Macarthur FC are in action at Suncorp Stadium (11:05 BST, TNT Sports 4).

Read on for my Brisbane Roar vs Macarthur predictions, complete with all the latest team news and match odds.

Team News

Brisbane Roar have been busy in the transfer market, recruiting Dean Bouzanis, Youstin Salas, Chris Long, Justin Vidic, Michael Ruhs, James McGarry, and several others, for Michael Valkanis as he prepares to make his debut in the dugout for the Lions.

However, the former Melbourne City boss, who was last in charge of Turkish side Adana Demirspor, won't be able to call on Austin Ludwik (groin), Ben Halloran (knee) and Nathan Amanatidis (quad), who are all injured for round one.

Football Odds

While the Roar's last competitive game was way back in mid-May, Macarthur have been in action twice in the last month, losing 2-1 in Hong Kong to Tai Po on September 18 before beating Chinese club Beijing Guoan 3-0 in Sydney on October 2 - both games in the AFC Champions League 2.

Bulls boss Mile Sterjovski could name the same side that started against Beijing Guoan, which would mean a league debut for 19-year-old defender Will McKay, although Callum Talbot could return at right-back after suspension ruled him out of his new side's last match.

Former Sunderland striker Ji Dong-won could also make his ALM bow this week, having joined from Suwon FC in the off-season.

Bernardo, Frans Deli and Sebastian Krslovic (all unspecified) are out injured, however.

Brisbane Roar vs Macarthur Odds

Brisbane have only beaten Macarthur once in 11 attempts - in their second-ever meeting in April 2021. The Roar are 5/4, or a 44.4% chance, to end their long wait for a win against the Bulls, who are 7/4 (36.4%) to triumph again at Suncorp, as they did in April's 5-1 hammering of the Lions.

The draw is priced at 12/5, both teams to score at 4/9, and over 3.5 total goals at 5/4.

Anytime Goalscorer - Harrison Sawyer (MAC) @ 7/4

Harrison Sawyer endured a slow start to life at Macarthur, failing to score in any of his first 11 league appearances for the Bulls.

However, the 6ft5in centre-forward got off the mark in style on March 28, bagging a second-half brace off the bench in a 3-3 draw with Newcastle Jets, before scoring once in his next two games, a 5-1 thrashing of Brisbane Roar and a 2-2 draw with Central Coast Mariners, both as a substitute.

Sawyer ended the campaign with four goals in his last four matches, and he was on target when his side reconvened on July 29 for a 5-0 battering of SD Raiders in the Australia Cup round of 32.

Today's Football Fixtures

The 28-year-old will hope that, after starting all but one of Macarthur's games in the Australia Cup and AFC Champions League 2, he is given the nod to begin Friday's fixture in Brisbane.

Sawyer is an absolute nuisance in the air, and I'm backing him to pose the Roar plenty of problems at Suncorp. At 7/4, he's decent value to get up and running in the ALM.

Featured Bet Builders - Any Macarthur player to score a header @ 2/1

Sawyer's strike against the Roar last season was a header in the seventh minute of second-half stoppage time, and all four of his league goals in 2024/25 were scored from his head. He's taken seven shots across two AFC Champions League 2 appearances this term, and five have been headers - so he's been warming up for Friday's game.

The last two goals Brisbane have conceded in a competitive match have been headers, and I wonder whether, under a new head coach, still finding his feet at the club, they may be susceptible to set-pieces in their season opener.

Offers

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