Wellington Phoenix vs Melbourne City Prediction: Nix to notch a couple at Sky Stadium

Wellington Phoenix and Melbourne City, who both suffered heavy defeats last week, face off in the first Australian A-League Men's fixture of the week this Friday (06:00 GMT, TNT Sports 4) at Sky Stadium.

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

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Team News

Josh Oluwayemi, Dan Edwards and Nathan Walker (all unspecified) are out injured for Wellington Phoenix, whose head coach, Giancarlo Italiano, has named Anaru Cassidy in his extended squad.

Football Odds

As for Melbourne City, Nathaniel Atkinson is suspended after picking up his fifth yellow card of the campaign in last weekend’s 6-2 hammering at Macarthur FC.

Aurelio Vidmar is also without six players - Andrew Nabbout (calf), Emin Durakovic (concussion), Mathew Leckie (hip), Elbasan Rashani (hamstring), Dakota Ochsenham and Kavian Rahmani (both knee) - due to injury, but Andreas Kuen is back fit and Ferencvaros loanee Daniel Arzani could make his second debut for the club.

Wellington Phoenix vs Melbourne City Odds

Wellington Phoenix, who have lost the last three head-to-heads, are 12/5, or a 29.4% chance, to win on Friday and move a point above their opponents. Melbourne City, meanwhile, are 19/20 favourites, implying a 51.3% probability of success - while the draw is offered at 12/5.

Home Team Total Goals - Over 1.5 @ 2/1

Wellington have found the net at least twice in eight of their 14 ALM games this season, including four of their last six, and four of their six at Sky Stadium.

Melbourne City, meanwhile, have only conceded 2+ goals in three of their 15 league matches, but two of those have come on their travels, including last Saturday at Campbelltown Stadium, where they were taken apart 6-2 by Macarthur.

Today's Football Fixtures

Friday's visitors are missing several important players again this week, including right-back Atkinson, meaning another defensive reshuffle is required, and their hosts may feel like there is an opportunity to take advantage of last season's Grand Final champions.

The Nix have struck at least two goals in three of their last four home games, including their last two, beating Central Coast Mariners 3-1 on December 21 and drawing 2-2 with Adelaide United on January 11.

Italiano's side only scored once in last Friday's 4-1 defeat at Newcastle Jets, but they registered an xG of 4.19 to their opponents' 2.33, with home goalkeeper James Delianov making five saves at McDonald Jones Stadium.

Most Corners - Wellington Phoenix @ 21/10

Only Melbourne City (7.13), Auckland (6.71) and Western Sydney Wanderers (6.63) are averaging more corners taken per home game this season than Wellington (6.29), who have won the most corners in three of their seven at Sky Stadium (D2, L2) and average just 4.14 conceded per game.

Melbourne City, meanwhile, are averaging the sixth-fewest corners taken per away game (4.57), conceding, on average, 4.43 per game, and they've lost the corner count in three of their seven away matches (W4).

Expect the Nix to put a vulnerable City side under pressure, looking to unsettle the visitors from set-pieces.

Nick Ware P/L 25/26 ALM Season (After GW14)

 P/L: +3.9%