Sydney vs Western Sydney Wanderers Prediction: Lolley to bring up hat-trick of 24/25 Sydney derby openers

Is it that time again? There have already been two Sydney derbies contested this season but on Saturday (08:35, TNT Sports 1), Sydney FC and Western Sydney Wanderers will do all it again at Allianz Stadium. The Sky Blues dominated this fixture last year, winning all four meetings in 2024, and Ufuk Talay's outfit can double their three-point advantage over their local rivals by beating Alen Stajcic's side in the Emerald City this weekend.

Below is my Sydney vs Western Sydney Wanderers prediction, complete with all the latest team news and match odds ahead of the weekend's standout fixture in the Australian A-League Men's.

Team News

Sydney secured the signing of experienced central defender Alex Grant on a short-term deal until the end of the season last week and the 31-year-old goes straight into his new side's squad for the Sydney derby. Grant's addition comes at a good time as fellow defenders Aaron Gurd (broken collarbone) and Alex Popovic (groin) are both ruled out of action.

Josh Sotirio (calf) is also sidelined due to injury while Tiago Quintal and Gus Hoefsloot are on international duty.

Joel King is available again after he was rested for last Saturday's 4-1 thrashing of high-flying Adelaide United and 20-year-old Kyle Shaw, who debuted against the Reds, has retained his place in the extended squad.

Football Odds

Dylan Scicluna (ACL) and Jeong Tae-wook (unspecified) are still injured for Western Sydney Wanderers, who have called Jack Clisby and Alex Gersbach into their extended squad for this weekend's Sydney derby.

Juan Mata provided the assist for Bozhidar Kraev's winner in last week's 1-0 success at Brisbane Roar but was forced off in the 11th minute at Suncorp Stadium; however, the Spaniard has been passed fit for Saturday's game and will likely begin the contest on the bench.

Mohamed Al-Taay was Mata's replacement in Brisbane and the Iraq international could be the only change to Stajcic's starting XI this weekend.

Sydney vs Western Sydney Wanderers Odds

Sydney are 8/13 to rack up a fifth consecutive derby victory, implying a 61.9% probability of success, while Western Sydney Wanderers are 16/5, or a 23.8% chance, to beat their neighbours for the first time since November 2023.

A first draw between the two teams since November 2021 is priced at 3/1, both teams to score at 2/5, and over 2.5 total goals at 4/11.

Sydney pair Patryk Klimala and Joe Lolley (both 21/20) head the anytime goalscorer market with Brandon Borrello, Nicolas Milanovic and Marcus Antonsson (all 2/1) first up for the visitors.

Price Boosts - Sydney to Win, Joe Lolley (SYD) Anytime Goalscorer & Sydney 5+ Corners @ 3/1 4/1

I backed one of the price boosts in my November Sydney derby preview and two of the three legs landed safely as Sydney won and both teams scored; however, Sydney only managed to take a third of the six corners required, and thus the 4/1 bet, boosted from 100/30, failed to come in.

Undeterred, I'm willing to get behind this latest price boost, which needs a Sydney win, Lolley to score, and the hosts to win five corners.

The Sky Blues have won the last four Sydney derbies and so are easy to get behind here, especially after inflicting just a second defeat of the season on Adelaide United last week. That win ended a three-game winless run, the last two of which they lost, and with Douglas Costa making his return from injury against the Reds, Talay has his full complement of attackers back.

The Wanderers, meanwhile, only just about edged out league stragglers Brisbane Roar at Suncorp Stadium last week, a result which followed back-to-back defeats to Central Coast Mariners (1-3) and Auckland (0-1). They're unbeaten in their last five away trips but their last loss away from CommBank Stadium did come at Allianz Stadium, where Sydney have won five of their last seven games; only Auckland (19) have picked up more points at home than the Sky Blues (15) this season.

Sydney star Lolley has been instrumental in his side's derby success in 2024/25, opening the scoring in October's 2-1 win at CommBank and November's 4-2 victory at Allianz.

The 32-year-old was also on target last weekend to bring his season tally up to nine in the ALM, one ahead of nearest rival Archie Goodwin (Adelaide United) in the Golden Boot race.

The Wanderers haven't been able to contain the former Nottingham Forest winger this term and I don't see that changing on Saturday, so he looks good for a goal this weekend.

Lastly, we're placing our faith in Sydney corners, which let us down last time. This time around we need one fewer, as five is the required target, and that's something they managed in their next three games after the latest Sydney derby, and in three of their last four matches.

The Wanderers conceded six corners to the Roar last week and have seen the opposition take at least six in each of their last five games.

First Goalscorer - Joe Lolley (SYD) @ 9/2

I'm doubling up on the home side's main man here and backing the 32-year-old to not just find the net on Saturday, but to open the scoring for a third consecutive Sydney derby.

Lolley took just 17 minutes to fire his team in front at CommBank in October and while it took nearly double the time for him to strike at Allianz the following month, he was still first on the scoresheet, one of five times he has managed that this season.

He opened the scoring in last weekend's win against Adelaide to end a four-game barren run which had followed a hat-trick in a 3-0 victory over the Glory where he had, of course, struck the first, second and third and final goal of the contest.

Offers

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