Western Sydney Wanderers vs Melbourne City Prediction: Barbarouses to open up at CommBank

CommBank Stadium hosts its first match of the 2025/26 Australian A-League Men’s season on Saturday (07:00), with ground tenants Western Sydney Wanderers in action against Melbourne City.

Below are my Western Sydney Wanderers vs Melbourne City predictions, supported by all the latest team news and match odds.

Team News

Off-season arrivals Kosta Barbarouses, Alou Kuol, Angus Thurgate, Steven Ugarkovic and Phillip Cancar could all make their league debuts for the Wanderers on Saturday.

Head coach Alen Stajcic is spoiled for choice, as no injuries have been reported, so there could be a few tough decisions to make.

Football Odds

As for Melbourne City, they are boosted by the returns of Mathew Leckie and Andreas Kuen, who both missed the 1-0 AFC Champions League defeat to Kobe on October 1. Ben Mazzeo is also back involved after overcoming a minor knee injury that saw him sidelined for the trip to Japan.

Andrew Nabbout, James Nieuwenhuizen (both ACL), Lawrene Wong (MCL), Alessandro Lopane (ankle) and Medin Memeti (hamstring) are all unavailable for Aurelio Vidmar's side due to injury.

Western Sydney Wanderers vs Melbourne City Odds

The Wanderers haven't beaten City at home since March 2019, yet have been installed as 7/5 favourites on Saturday, implying a 41.7% probability of success, while the visitors are 6/4, or a 40% chance, to kick off their campaign with a victory.

The last meeting between the pair, at CommBank in April, saw the sides share four goals in a 2-2 draw; another stalemate can be backed at 12/5, with a repeat of that scoreline available at 10/1.

First Goalscorer - Kosta Barbarouses (WSW) @ 5/1

Wellington Phoenix dropped from second in 2023/24 to 11th last season, but Barbarouses could keep his head held high, having scored 10 goals - 37% of their total (27). It was three fewer strikes than in 2023/24, but he made two fewer appearances and was hamstrung by the lack of creativity around him.

Now at the Wanderers, Barbarouses will be confident that he can make a push for the Golden Boot, despite his advancing years.

The 35-year-old is now teammates with Brandon Borrello and Thurgate, who provided 11 and five ALM assists, respectively, last season.

Today's Football Fixtures

Barbarouses marked his debut for the Wanderers with a first-half goal in their 3-0 Australia Cup round-of-32 victory over Peninsula on July 22, rounding off the scoring in Brisbane.

He’s 13/10 to score anytime on Friday, but at 5/1, he’s an attractive price to back in the First Goalscorer market, having found the net first in four ALM games last season, as well as in his last-ever appearance for the Nix, a 1-0 win against Brisbane Roar in the Australia Cup preliminary rounds on May 14.

Player to Receive a Card - Steven Ugarkovic (WSW) @ 9/2

Back at Wanderland after three seasons away, the first of those at Wellington Phoenix and the second and third at Melbourne City, Ugarkovic should be fired up for this opening fixture.

Against many of his former teammates, expect the 31-year-old midfielder, who picked up seven yellow cards in 24 ALM appearances in 2024/25, to crunch into a few challenges at CommBank.

Ugarkovic averaged a foul per game in the ALM last season, down from 1.5 per game in 2023/24, and he could make at least one or two on Saturday, which may see him scribbled into the referee's notebook for the first time this term.

Offers

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