Macarthur vs Perth Glory Prediction: Score draw in Sydney

Macarthur FC take on Perth Glory in the final match of the Australian A-League Men's opening weekend on Sunday (06:00, TNT Sports 3), with the contest taking place at the Bulls' Campbelltown Stadium in Sydney.

Read below for my Macarthur vs Perth Glory prediction, complete with all the latest team news and match odds.

Team News

Macarthur were rocked by the news earlier this year that captain Ulises Davila, alongside teammates Clayton Lewis and Kearyn Baccus, had been arrested over allegations they planned to manipulate yellow cards during matches. Neither Davila nor Baccus are contracted to the club anymore, while Lewis remains suspended from playing in the A-League as he fights to clear his name.

The Bulls suffered a further blow earlier this month when they were banned from recruiting new players until they have paid former Manchester United striker Dwight Yorke the compensation he was awarded after being sacked as coach last year.

Luckily for the Sydney club, they had already brought in Luke Brattan (Sydney FC), Marin Jakolis (Angers), Christopher Ikonomidis (Melbourne Victory) and Liam Rose (El Paso) earlier in the off-season to make up for the departures of Davila, Baccus, Raphael Borges Rodrigues (Coventry City), Tommy Smith (Auckland FC), Matthew Millar (Istiqlol Dushanbe) and Lachlan Rose (Newcastle Jets).

However, head coach Mile Sterjovski will be without new signing Ikonomidis this weekend, as the striker recovers from injury.

Football Odds

Perth Glory lost Johnny Koutroumbis (Motherwell), Daniel Bennie (Queens Park Rangers), Aleksandar Susnjar (Newcastle Jets) and Mark Beevers (free agent) during the off-season but embarked on a signing spree, recruiting Joshua Risdon (Western United), Brandon O'Neill (Newcastle Jets), Taras Gomulka (Brisbane Roar), Lachlan Barr (Adelaide United) and Hiroaki Aoyama (Marconi) among others.

They've also kept hold of last season's Golden Boot winner, Adam Taggart, who will be crucial to their chances of moving up the league after finishing bottom of the A-League Men's ladder in 2023/24.

However, Nicholas Pennington, Mustafa Amini and Nathanael Blair are all out injured for their opening game.

Macarthur vs Perth Glory Odds

*Please click on the link above to be taken to the main Macarthur vs Perth Glory page on betfred.com (or app) for all the live betting prices on this match.

The hosts are 19/20 to claim all three points on the opening weekend, with a win for the Glory at 11/5 and the draw priced at 13/5.

Both teams to score is 4/11 and over 2.5 total goals at 2/5, while Bulls forward Valere Germain, who scored in the corresponding fixture last season, is 1/1 favourite to net anytime on Sunday, followed by Taggart (23/20).

Match Result & Both Teams to Score - Draw & Yes @ 16/5

Nineteen points separated these sides last season as Macarthur finished fifth to book a playoff berth while Perth Glory finished rock bottom.

Since then, though, the Glory have made moves to improve the squad and give some support to Taggart, who was pretty much carrying them in 2023/24.

Macarthur, meanwhile, have seen more turnover with players departing for various reasons, and there's been some unwelcome spotlight shone on the club.

Despite this, the Bulls rallied to win the Australia Cup last month, beating Melbourne Victory 1-0 in the final, and that triumph at AAMI Park was achieved without their main man Germain, who was suspended.

Clearly, there is real resilience in the side, and that should stand them in good stead for what may well be a challenging campaign.

Macarthur have failed to win their last three A-League Men's opening fixtures, however, and I'm finding it difficult to separate the teams this weekend.

I think a stalemate could be on the cards at Campbelltown Stadium, but I don't think it will be a bore draw. There were four goals shared the last time the teams met in Sydney earlier this year, while the reverse fixture in Perth last December saw the Glory come back from two goals down to win 3-2.

With the likes of Germain and Taggart on the field, there should be no shortage of strikes, so a score draw is my first pick here.

First Goalscorer - Adam Taggart (PGFC) @ 9/2

Taggart returned to Perth midway through the 2022/23 campaign and struck five times in 13 games as the Glory finished ninth.

Bizarrely, despite netting 20 times last season, beating Melbourne Victory's Bruno Fornaroli (18 goals) and Newcastle Jets' Apostolos Stamatelopoulos (17) to the Golden Boot, he was unable to prevent his side from collecting the wooden spoon.

The 31-year-old will be hoping for much better this time around, and a good start on Sunday could be a springboard for success.

I think the Glory can score one or two in Sydney, and it would be a surprise if he wasn't on the scoresheet at least once.

However, his anytime odds aren't particularly appealing, so instead, I'm backing the Australia international to open the scoring, something he did six times in 2023/24.

Offers

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