Melbourne City vs Newcastle Jets Prediction: Lachlan a lucky charm at AAMI Park

Melbourne City snapped out of a four-game losing run in the Australian A-League Men's with a 1-0 victory over Brisbane Roar at AAMI Park on Tuesday. Aurelio Vidmar's side are at home again on Sunday (06:00 GMT, TNT Sports 2), with Newcastle Jets, who have won three of their last four matches, providing the opposition this time around.

Below are my Melbourne City vs Newcastle Jets predictions, alongside all the latest team news and match odds, as the hosts look to do the double over the Jets, having triumphed 1-0 at McDonald Jones Stadium on December 6.

Sports Welcome Offer

New customers only. Deposit via Debit Card & place first bet £10+ (1/1+) on Sports in 7 days. £30 Sports & £20 Acca Free Bets within 10 hrs of settlement. 7-day expiry. Eligibility, payment excl. & T&Cs Apply.

Sports Welcome Offer

New customers only. Deposit via Debit Card & place first bet £10+ (1/1+) on Sports in 7 days. £30 Sports & £20 Acca Free Bets within 10 hrs of settlement. 7-day expiry. Eligibility, payment excl. & T&Cs Apply.

Team News

Mathew Leckie (hip), Takeshi Kanamori (groin), Elbasan Rashani (hamstring), Dakota Ochsenham and Kavian Rahmani (both knee) are out injured for Aurelio Vidmar's Melbourne City, who welcome Ben Mazzeo and Samuel Souprayen back into their extended squad.

Football Odds

As for Newcastle Jets, they suffered a double injury blow earlier this week with the news that Alexander Badolato and Christian Bracco have both ruptured their ACLs and will miss the rest of the 2025/26 season.

Max Cooper (suspended), Jordan Bayliss, Thomas Aquilina, Oscar Fryer and Noah James (all unspecified) also miss out for Mark Milligan's side.

Melbourne City vs Newcastle Jets Odds

Melbourne City are 4/6 to record back-to-back league wins for the first time this season, implying a 60% probability of success, with Newcastle Jets 16/5 to claim a fourth straight away victory, and the draw offered at 11/4.

Anytime Goalscorer - Lachlan Rose (NEW) @ 9/5

City are one of just two clubs - Brisbane Roar are the other - to stop the Jets scoring this season, and only Sydney FC (seven) have conceded fewer goals this season than Vidmar's men (10).

However, the Jets are the leading scorers in the 25/26 ALM, netting 23 goals so far - six more than anyone else.

Newcastle have avoided defeat in their last three away games against City, drawing 1-1 in April 2023 and 0-0 in March 2024 before triumphing 1-0 in May last year.

Today's Football Fixtures

The Jets' hero in that win was Lachlan Rose, who struck two more times in that campaign to take his total to eight goals in 18 games.

The 26-year-old is already on five goals in 11 ALM appearances this season, and last time out, in his side's 3-1 victory at Auckland FC on New Year's Day, he bagged a brace.

Interestingly, all five of his goals this term have come on the Jets' travels, and his last nine strikes have been away from home.

So, at 9/5, I'm all over the Australian to find the net this weekend.

Match Result - Newcastle Jets @ 16/5

The Jets struggled at the start of the season but have now won four of their last six games (L2), including three of their last four. Their latest victory was their most impressive as they beat reigning Premier's Plate champions Auckland 3-1 at the Black Knights' Go Media Stadium, despite going down to 10 men in the 21st minute with the score at 2-1.

Milligan's men are the division's top scorers, netting 23 goals across their first 11 matches, averaging 2.1 per game, and they've struck seven times across two post-Christmas contests.

City, meanwhile, are seriously struggling for goals, netting just 12 in the league this season; before the beginning of gameweek 12, only bottom-of-the-table Western Sydney Wanderers (eight) and Brisbane Roar (11) have struck fewer times.

Vidmar's side have only scored more than once in a single league game on two occasions this term, and have notched just four times across their last six.

Despite playing five consecutive games at AAMI Park, City have only picked up five points in that run (W1, D2, L2), and only Perth Glory (four), Central Coast Mariners (five) and the Jets (six) have claimed fewer points at home this season than the reigning league champions (eight).

The Jets, who have won their last three games away from home, beating Auckland 2-1 and 3-1, either side of a 3-1 victory at Wellington Phoenix, will be licking their lips at the opportunity in front of them this weekend.

I considered backing the visitors in the Draw No Bet market at 9/4, but the Jets haven't drawn a single match this season, and so I think it's worth being braver and going all in on Milligan's side at 16/5. They were only edged out 1-0 by City in December's reverse fixture, and triumphed 1-0 at AAMI Park the last time they played City there in March last year.

Nick Ware P/L 25/26 ALM Season (After GW11)

 P/L: +10.5%