Sydney FC vs Central Coast Mariners Prediction: Little to separate sides in Sydney

Arguably the highlight fixture in round 22 of the 2023/24 Australian A-League Men's season takes place at the Sydney Football Stadium on Saturday (KO, 08:45), as Sydney FC host Central Coast Mariners.

Scroll below for our Sydney FC vs Central Coast Mariners prediction, complete with all the latest team news and match odds for this top-six clash.

Sydney FC will be looking to bounce back from a 2-1 defeat to Wellington Phoenix before the international break, which ended their eight-game unbeaten run.

Meanwhile, Central Coast Mariners are firmly in contention to be Premiership champions after four league wins in a row, a run of results which have them three points behind leaders Wellington Phoenix with a game in hand.

Team News

Sydney FC are still without Patrick Wood and Aarno Gurd due to injury, but Jake Girdwood-Reich is free to return after serving a one-match suspension against the Nix.

The Mariners still have Sasha Kuzevski and Noah Smith sidelined but have an otherwise healthy squad, which will feature the newest Socceroo, Joshua Nisbet, whose sensational season so far was rewarded with a national team call-up by Graham Arnold.

Ex-Leeds United striker Ryan Edmondson is expected to keep his place up top after scoring his first A-League goal last time out against Macarthur FC.

Match Odds

The hosts are 11/10 - or a 47.6% chance - to get back on track with a win this weekend, while the visitors can be backed at 2/1 - implying they have a 33.3% chance - to win a fifth-straight league game.

The draw is available at 12/5 and over 3.5 goals is 6/4.

Draw @ 12/5

This is a tough one to call between two sides in great form, so I'm inclined to stay on the fence and back a draw on Saturday.

Sydney FC have drawn their last two at home and haven't been beaten at the Sydney Football Stadium since December 9, while the Mariners have the best away record in the division, winning six and drawing two of their 10 away outings.

The Sky Blues won the reverse fixture in Gosford last month but there has been little to separate the sides in recent seasons. They've met in the cup during each of the last two campaigns and drawn both 3-3 - Sydney FC winning via penalties on both occasions - while there was a victory for each in the A-League Men's in 2022/23.

A draw wouldn't be the worst result for either with Sydney FC facing two of the league's bottom-three clubs next and the Mariners having a game in hand on Wellington Phoenix.

Robert Mak to score anytime @ 11/5

The Slovakia international is in the most prolific form of his A-League career having scored four in his last five games, only blanking against Melbourne City during that period.

Mak has six goals in 19 league appearances this term, four behind his tally of 10 last season, which was achieved in 26 games.

With six matches remaining of the regular campaign, there is still a chance for him to match his tally, or even better it, and a goal or two on Saturday would go a long way to helping him achieve that objective.

The 33-year-old already has a strike against the Mariners at the Sydney Football Stadium to his name this season, having found the opener in a 3-3 draw between the sides in the Australia Cup last August, when the Sky Blues progressed on penalties.

Check out the rest of our Football Betting Tips here.