Wellington Phoenix vs Adelaide United Prediction: Another Eze with an impressive arsenal

Saturday's action from the Australian A-League Men's starts at Sky Stadium (04:00 GMT, TNT Sports 2), where hosts Wellington Phoenix, hurting after back-to-back defeats, take on Adelaide United, who are riding high after winning their last two.

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

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Team News

Tim Payne (broken collarbone), Paulo Retre (abdominal strain), Hideki Ishige (ACL), Nikola Mileusnic and Nathan Walker (both unspecified) remain in the Wellington Phoenix treatment room.

Football Odds

Dylan Pierias will have to be replaced at right-back for Adelaide United after receiving a red card in the 36th minute of last week's 4-1 victory over Melbourne City. Panashe Madanha, who came on at the start of the second half in that game and impressed in Pierias' position, looks likely to earn his first start of the calendar year in place of the 25-year-old.

Sotiri Phillis has been taken out of Airton Andrioli's extended squad for the trip to New Zealand, with Harry Crawford and Vinko Stanisic added, while Craig Goodwin is expected to return to the starting XI after missing the Melbourne City match.

Wellington Phoenix vs Adelaide United Odds

Wellington Phoenix, who lost both head-to-heads last season, are 21/10 to claim their second victory of the 2025/26 campaign, implying a 32.3% probability of success, while Adelaide United are 1/1, or a 50% chance, to collect three points for a third consecutive game. The draw is priced at 5/2.

The Reds won 2-1 at Sky Stadium in January, and a repeat of that scoreline can be backed at 15/2.

Corner Over/Under - Over 11.5 @ 11/8

Adelaide (10.6) and Wellington (10.2) rank second and sixth for average corners per game (for/against) in this season's ALM.

The Nix, who lead the way for average corners taken per game with 6.2, have seen their last three games produce 15, 13 and 13 against Central Coast Mariners, Auckland and Macarthur, respectively.

Today's Football Fixtures

The Reds' first and fifth games of the season, against Sydney FC and Melbourne City, saw six and seven corners recorded, respectively, but their second, third and fourth matches, against Macarthur FC, Auckland and Western Sydney Wanderers, produced 13, 12 and 15, respectively.

Adelaide (5.8) are second in the corners taken per game table, just behind Wellington, and so the numbers are there for a corner-crazy contest on Saturday.

Over 11.5 corners has been a winning selection in eight of the last nine head-to-heads, including in their last meeting, at Coopers Stadium in April, when 15 were registered.

Anytime Goalscorer - Ifeanyi Eze (WEL) @ 7/4

Wellington striker Ifeanyi Eze was starved of service last weekend, restricted to two off-target shots with a combined xG of 0.24. His side struggled to create much of note for the entire game as they recorded just 12 shots, with only one forcing Macarthur's goalkeeper into a save.

However, the 26-year-old has shown this season that, when given decent opportunities, he can score in the ALM.

Eze has struck three times in his first five league appearances for the Nix, netting in a 2-2 draw at Perth Glory, a 1-1 draw at Central Coast Mariners, and a 2-1 home defeat to Auckland.

The Libyan will fancy his chances of adding to his tally on Friday, as Adelaide have kept just one clean sheet this term, albeit they have only conceded once in the other four games.

Eze is responsible for half of Nix's six goals in the competition so far, so if you fancy Giancarlo Italiano's side to find the net for the fifth time in six matches, he's your best bet in the Anytime Goalscorer market.

Nick Ware P/L 25/26 ALM Season

 P/L: +14.25

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