Western Sydney Wanderers vs Newcastle Jets Prediction: Visitors to pile pressure on vulnerable hosts

Western Sydney Wanderers head into gameweek four of the 2024/25 Australian A-League Men's season without a win to their name having lost 2-1 to Sydney FC and 4-3 to Adelaide United either side of a 1-1 draw with Western United. Their next opponents, Newcastle Jets, have only played twice, losing 1-0 to Melbourne City in round one before beating Macarthur 2-1 the following week and receiving a bye last time out.

Read below for my Western Sydney Wanderers vs Newcastle Jets prediction, complete with all the latest team news and match odds, ahead of this Friday's fixture at CommBank Stadium (08:35, TNT Sports 2).

Team News

Goalkeeper Lawrence Thomas remains unavailable for Western Sydney Wanderers, who have also announced that Dean Pelekanos, Tom Beadling and James Temelkovski won't be a part of the squad this week.

All eyes are on head coach Alen Stajcic to see whether he sticks with the attacking front four of Nicolas Milanovic, Bozhidar Kraev, Juan Mata and Brandon Borrello that started against Adelaide last weekend. Marcus Antonsson, Aydan Hammond and Zachary Sapsford are all options if Stajcic does decide to shake things up.

Football Odds

Newcastle Jets will once again be without Jacob Dowse and Oscar Fryer, but the rest of their squad remains available.

Head coach Rob Stanton could stick with a winning formula, meaning the likes of Phillip Cancar, Clayton Taylor and Callum Timmins will have to settle for a place on the bench again.

Western Sydney Wanderers vs Newcastle Jets Odds

*Please click on the link above to be taken to the main Western Sydney Wanderers vs Newcastle Jets page on betfred.com (or app) for all the live betting prices on this match.

Western Sydney Wanderers are 8/11 to claim their first victory of the season, giving the hosts an implied win probability of 57.9% on Friday, while Newcastle Jets are 11/4, or a 26.7% chance, to make it back-to-back wins.

A draw is priced at 11/4, both teams to score at 1/2, and over 2.5 total goals at 1/2.

Antonsson (13/10) heads the anytime goalscorer market followed by teammates Borrello (11/8) and Milanovic (8/5), while Taylor (9/4) is shortest-priced for the visitors.

Away Team Total Goals - Newcastle Jets Over 1.5 @ 6/4

I backed a Wanderers win and both teams to score at 11/5 in their home game with Adelaide United last Saturday, and if you had told me that Stajcic's side had scored three goals, I would've said the bet had a great chance of landing.

Of course, the Wanderers conceded four times to their opponents, including three in the first 27 minutes, and eventually lost 4-3 to the Reds. Despite naming a star-studded starting XI containing A-League stars Kraev and Borrello, as well as marquee signing Mata, the Westies were torn apart in the first half at CommBank Stadium and failed to adequately recover after the interval.

I've backed the Wanderers in back-to-back weeks now but until they get a win on the board I think I'll steer well clear of result-based predictions on them now.

Instead, my first pick for Friday's match is for Newcastle Jets to score at least two goals.

The Jets hit back from a goal down to score twice in five minutes through Eli Adams at Macarthur in their last game, beating the Bulls 2-1 at Campbelltown Stadium, and they scored at least twice in all three Australia Cup games they played earlier in the year - 4-1 v Western United, 2-1 v Rockdale Ilinden, and 3-4 v Macarthur.

Going back to last season, Newcastle have scored two or more goals in three of their last six A-League Men's games and did so in 48.1 per cent (13) of their 27 league outings in 2023/24.

The Wanderers, meanwhile, conceded over 1.5 goals in 51.9 per cent (14) of their A-League matches, including both meetings with the Jets - a 2-2 draw in Newcastle last November and a 3-3 tie at CommBank Stadium in February.

WSW have let in at least two goals in six of their last seven league games and I've got little faith in them not conceding a couple more on Friday.

Bet Builder - Brandon Borrello (WSW) & Eli Adams (NJT) Anytime Goalscorers @ 7/1

My second tip in last week's Wanderers game did come in as Borrello scored to land the 8/5 anytime goalscorer bet. The 29-year-old has now found the net in back-to-back matches after also opening the scoring in his side's 1-1 draw at Western United on October 27.

Borrello will be looking to make it three in a row on Friday and he's got every reason to believe he can do so against a Jets side that hasn't kept a clean sheet in five league or cup matches this season.

Newcastle's last shutout against the Wanderers, meanwhile, came back in February 2022, and they have conceded at least once in their last five head-to-heads.

I think there will be goals on either side on Friday so I'm also looking to back a Jets player to strike at CommBank Stadium.

Former Brisbane Roar man Adams, who joined the Jets from Melbourne Victory in the off-season, is my pick after the 22-year-old bagged a brace against Macarthur to help his new club defeat Macarthur last time out.

Adams only scored once for Victory in last season's A-League, but he did only made 10 appearances.

He's already tripled his tally at the Jets and should be buoyed by his double at Campbelltown Stadium.

Next up is a game against one of the dodgiest defences in the league, and that should inspire him to surge forwards again in pursuit of glory.

Adams shot once in Newcastle's opening weekend defeat to Melbourne City before taking five efforts against the Bulls, so he's not afraid to try his luck.

Offers

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