Wellington Phoenix vs Western Sydney Wanderers Prediction: Both teams to strike twice

Only a win will suffice for Wellington Phoenix against Western Sydney Wanderers on Saturday (06:00 BST, TNT Sports 2) in their bid to claim a top-six spot and secure finals football. The Wanderers, meanwhile, must triumph themselves to stand a chance of avoiding the dreaded Australian A-League Men’s wooden spoon for finishing bottom.

Below are my Wellington Phoenix vs Western Sydney Wanderers predictions, alongside team news and match odds.

Team News

Sarpreet Singh (unspecified) is out injured for Wellington Phoenix, but otherwise, Chris Greenacre has a full complement to choose from.

Football Odds

Western Sydney Wanderers defender Jacob Farrell (groin) is the only man missing from Gary van Egmond's extended squad.

Wellington Phoenix vs Western Sydney Wanderers Odds

Wellington Phoenix are 5/4 favourites, implying a 44.4% probability of success, while Western Sydney Wanderers are 13/8, or a 38.1% chance, with the draw at 11/4.

Both Teams to Score 2 or More Goals Yes/No - Yes @ 11/4

There have been at least four goals scored in the last three head-to-heads, with the last two, including this season’s reverse fixture at CommBank Stadium in February, finishing 2-2.

Only Central Coast Mariners (14) have conceded 2+ goals in more league games this season than the Wanderers (13), with the Nix (12) in third, and heading into the penultimate round of fixtures this week, both teams rank in the top three for goals conceded; Wellington have shipped the most (43), while the Wanderers are third on 39.

The Wanderers have only scored 2+ goals in seven of their 24 league matches this season, with only Brisbane Roar (six) netting 2+ in fewer, but five of those seven instances have come in their last eight, with Both Teams to Score 2 or More Goals landing in half (four).

Today's Football Fixtures

The Nix, meanwhile, are the ALM’s joint-fifth highest scoring team (34 goals), and only Newcastle Jets (16) have scored 2+ goals in more games than Wellington (12), who are joint-top of the home table, having struck at least twice in seven of their 12 fixtures at Sky Stadium.

Saturday’s hosts can still secure finals football, so they will be going all for three points here, while the visitors need to win to keep their chances of avoiding the wooden spoon alive, so the conditions are there for goals, and at 11/4, I’m backing both sides to score at least twice for the third straight meeting.

Anytime Goalscorer - Anthony Pantazopoulos (WSW) @ 9/1

Wanderers defender Anthony Pantazopoulos has only scored once this season, but he looks like a man on a mission to double his tally before the campaign's conclusion.

The 23-year-old shot five times in last weekend's Sydney derby defeat to Sydney FC (0-2), forcing two saves from Sky Blues goalkeeper Harrison Devenish-Meares.

Pantazopoulos recorded two efforts the previous week in a 3-0 defeat at Melbourne City, hitting the target once, and in a 4-2 home loss to Adelaide United on March 20, he also forced a save with one of his two shots; in fact, he's registered 2+ shots in his last four starts, racking up 11 attempts and four shots on target.

Interestingly, two of the last three goals conceded by Wellington have been scored by defenders, Melbourne City's Aziz Behich and Brisbane Roar's Dimitrios Valkanis, while they were undone by Sydney centre-back Alexandar Popovic in a 1-0 home defeat on March 1.

Pantazopoulos recorded two shots off target in last season's corresponding fixture, but at 9/1, he's a great price to back for a goal this Saturday.

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