Brisbane Roar vs Auckland Prediction: May to come early at Suncorp Stadium

Second bottom meets top in the Australian A-League Men's on Sunday (07:00, TNT Sports 3) as Brisbane Roar host league leaders Auckland at Suncorp Stadium. Despite 31 points separating the sides, it's the Roar who come into this contest in better form after following up a couple of 1-1 draws against Melbourne Victory and Adelaide United with a 3-1 win at Perth Glory before the March international break.

The Black Knights, meanwhile, have drawn their last three but are still four points ahead of nearest challengers Western United with a game in hand. Below are my Brisbane Roar vs Auckland predictions, supported by the latest team news and match odds.

Team News

Jack Hingert (Sri Lanka), Walid Shour (Lebanon) and Rafael Struick (Indonesia) are all named in Brisbane Roar's squad this weekend after having all been in World Cup and Asian Cup qualifying action over the past fortnight.

Sunday's match will see club captain Jay O’Shea play his 150th A-League match for the club, becoming just the eighth player to do so for the Roar.

Football Odds

Ruben Zadkovich will have to make at least one change to the side that started against Perth Glory on March 15 as Keegan Jelacic serves a suspension for an accumulation of yellow cards.

Corey Brown (unspecified) and Ben Warland (knee) are both still in the Brisbane treatment room, but Austin Ludwik (head) is back in the squad after a one-game absence.

Auckland welcome Nando Pijnaker and Louis Verstraete back into the fold after the pair were banned for the Black Knights' 2-2 draw with Central Coast Mariners. Both could go straight back into Steve Corica's starting XI, although Dan Hall will hope to keep his place after returning from injury against CCM.

Callan Elliot scored Auckland's second goal in that game just five minutes after his introduction, and the 25-year-old may have done enough to earn himself a promotion to the starting side.

Brisbane Roar vs Auckland Odds

The gulf in quality between these clubs is highlighted in the odds with the hosts 11/4, or a 26.7% chance, to win at home for the first time this season. The visitors, on the other hand, are 5/6, implying a 54.5% probability.

The draw is priced at 12/5 and both teams to score at 4/6.

Auckland's eight-goal leading marksman Guillermo May heads the anytime goalscorer market at 6/4, followed by teammate Neyder Moreno (9/5), who has seven strikes to his name this season. Henry Hore (13/5) is first up for the Roar.

To Win to Nil - Auckland @ 23/10

With second-place Western United not in action until April 5, Auckland have the opportunity to go seven points clear at the top of the ALM ladder, quite the feat for a club in its inaugural season.

The Black Knights have lost just twice all season, and while they are without a win in their last three games, they haven't been defeated since January 11.

A resolute defence has been instrumental to their success so far, with only Melbourne City (18) conceding fewer goals than Corica's charges (20).

Auckland have kept nine clean sheets in 2024/25, claiming all three points in eight of those matches, and one of their shutouts came in their 2-0 victory over the Roar on the opening weekend of the season in October.

Brisbane, meanwhile, have scored just 23 times in 19 games, blanking on seven occasions. They've shown some improvement lately, netting in their last five matches, but Auckland are a different beast, and the absence of Jelacic could be felt dearly on Sunday.

The visitors, on the other hand, are bolstered by the returns of Pijnaker and Verstraete and will back themselves to take a win and a clean sheet back to New Zealand.

First Goalscorer - Guillermo May (AUC) @ 5/1

Only five players have scored more goals in the ALM this season than Auckland striker May, who joined the club from Newell's Old Boys ahead of their inaugural campaign.

The Argentine made a slow start to life in Australia, netting just once in his first six appearances, but seven in 14 have followed, the latest against the Mariners just before the international break. That strike was the first of the game and the fifth time this season that he had opened the scoring; in fact, he has been first on the scoresheet in all four games he has found the net in this calendar year.

Brisbane went behind after just seven minutes against the Glory last time out and have conceded first in five of their last six games, so I'm backing May to serve up another opening effort at 5/1 this weekend.

Offers

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