Wellington Phoenix vs Newcastle Jets Prediction: Jets to take flight early at Sky Stadium

Wellington Phoenix and Newcastle Jets, who both fell to defeats in the Australian A-League Men's last weekend, face off against each other at Sky Stadium on Sunday (02:00 GMT, TNT Sports 2), with just two points separating the sides after seven rounds of fixtures.

Below are my Wellington Phoenix vs Newcastle Jets predictions, supported by all the latest team news and match odds, as the hosts look to extend their unbeaten run in this fixture to five games.

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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

Wellington Phoenix defender Manjrekar James will serve a one-game suspension on Sunday for the red card he received in last weekend's 3-1 defeat at Auckland FC.

Tim Payne (broken collarbone), Paulo Retre (abdominal strain), Hideki Ishige (ACL), Luke Supyk, Nikola Mileusnic and Nathan Walker (all unspecified) are still out injured for Giancarlo Italiano's side.

Football Odds

Kota Mizunuma (hamstring), Oscar Fryer, Noah James (both knee), Ben van Dorssen, Alex Nassiep, Christian Bracco, Lucas Scicluna and Richard Nkomo (all unspecified) are sidelined for Newcastle Jets.

Wellington Phoenix vs Newcastle Jets Odds

Wellington Phoenix emerged victorious from both head-to-heads last season, triumphing 2-1 at Sky Stadium last December before winning by the same scoreline at McDonald Jones Stadium in April. The Nix are 13/10 favourites to beat Newcastle Jets again on Sunday, implying a 43.5% probability of success, while the visitors are 8/5, or a 38.5% chance, to exact their revenge this weekend, with the draw priced at 5/2.

Corner Over/Under - Over 11.5 @ 5/4

The corner count has been high in all four head-to-heads since the start of 2024, with 12, 13, 20 and 17 recorded, respectively, from most recent to latest.

At the time of writing, before the start of gameweek eight, only Macarthur FC games (12) have been averaging more corners than the Jets (11), while the Nix aren't far behind in joint-fourth (10.29).

Today's Football Fixtures

Sky Stadium, meanwhile, is averaging 11 corners per game, with only Macarthur's Campbelltown Stadium (13.75) and Central Coast Mariners' Polytec Stadium (11.5) averaging more; Wellington's last three home matches have ended with 12, 13 and 13 corners.

The Jets' away games are averaging 12 corners, with only Adelaide United's travel matches (12.33) averaging more, so the conditions are there for a corner-crazy contest on Sunday.

First Team To Score - Newcastle Jets @ 1/1

Despite suffering five defeats in their first seven games, failing to get on the scoresheet twice, the Jets have shown themselves to be fast starters this season.

In every match they have scored in, the Jets have grabbed the opening goal, with all five opening strikes coming in the 15th minute or earlier.

The Nix, who are yet to keep a clean sheet in 2025/26, have conceded first in five of their seven games, including three of their four at Sky Stadium.

The visitors will be looking to make another quick start on Sunday, and with Eli Adams and Clayton Taylor, who struck nine and seven goals, respectively, in last season's ALM, potentially in the starting XI for the first time this season, joining Lachlan Rose and Alexander Badolato (six ALM goals between them in 2025/26) in attack, they stand a great chance of doing so.

Nick Ware P/L 25/26 ALM Season (After GW7)

 P/L: +8.88%