Western United vs Macarthur Prediction: Bulls to show bite at Ironbarks

Western United will be looking to bounce back from their Melbourne derby defeat to Melbourne Victory last weekend when they host Macarthur FC at Ironbarks Field in Tarneit on Saturday (07:00, TNT Sports 4). The visitors, meanwhile, go in search of a first win since November 10 after following up a 1-0 loss to leaders Auckland in last month's 'Unite Round' in Sydney with a 4-4 draw at home to bottom club Brisbane Roar last time out.

Read on for my Western United vs Macarthur prediction, complete with all the latest team news and match odds.

Team News

Dyland Leonard returns from suspension for Western United after sitting out last weekend following his red card picked up in the latter stages of a 3-1 victory over Perth Glory on November 22.

James Donachie, Ben Garuccio, Sebastian Pasquali and Khoder Kaddour all remain injured and unavailable for selection, however.

Football Odds

Macarthur must once again make do without injured duo Chris Ikonomidis and Bernardo, while Harrison Sawyer and Yianni Nicolaou have both been left out of this weekend's extended squad.

Western United vs Macarthur Odds

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

Western United are 6/4 to win a home game for the first time since April 6 when they beat Macarthur 4-2 at Wyndham Regional Football Facility, giving Saturday's hosts an implied probability of 40%. The Bulls, meanwhile, are 7/5, or a 41.7% chance, to claim all three points in Tarneit, with the draw priced at 12/5.

Both teams to score is available at 4/9 and over 2.5 total goals at 8/15.

United striker Hiroshi Ibusuki (7/5) is favourite in the anytime goalscorer market followed by Bulls forwards Valere Germain (6/4) and Marin Jakolis (7/4), who have three and four ALM goals apiece this season.

Away Team Total Goals - Macarthur Over 1.5 Goals @ 1/1

Macarthur averaged 1.7 goals scored per game in last season's ALM but are on 2.3 p/g after six matches played this term, helped by an opening-weekend six-goal haul at home to Perth Glory (6-1) on October 20. They've only blanked once in 2024/25, against leaders Auckland FC - who are yet to concede - in the Sydney 'Unite Round' on November 24, while they've scored at least twice in half (three) of their contests, including last time out against Brisbane Roar where they struck four times but still only claimed a point.

Germain and Jakolis have been integral to their status as the division's top scorers so far, with the former notching three goals and the latter one ahead of his teammate, while defender Tomislav Uskok has also proved a dangerous weapon at set-pieces, striking against Glory and the Roar.

Western United, meanwhile, have conceded nine times in six ALM games - five clubs have shipped more but six have allowed fewer. United struggled at both ends last season, posting the worst attacking stats (36 goals - three fewer than the next worst, Newcastle Jets) and shipping 55 strikes - only Glory's defence (69) was breached on more occasions.

John Aloisi's side are yet to keep a clean sheet this season and have conceded at least twice in a game on two occasions - both in the last month, with a 2-1 defeat at Adelaide United and a 3-1 home defeat to Melbourne Victory sandwiched either side of a 3-1 victory over Glory in Sydney.

Macarthur have been prolific scorers in this fixture in recent times, netting at least twice in three of their four head-to-heads since the start of 2023. The teams played out a 2-2 draw at the Bulls' Campbelltown Stadium in January 2023, which was also the venue for the second and final meeting of that year in November when the hosts edged the contest 1-0.

Both matches between the two in 2024 have been full of goals with six shared in a 3-3 draw at Western Sydney Wanderers' CommBank Stadium on January 12 before United won 4-2 at Wyndham Regional Football Facility on April 6.

I anticipate more excitement on Saturday and I think the Bulls can uphold their top scorers tag after this one with another couple of goals against United.

Bet Builder - Hiroshi Ibusuki (WU) & Valere Germain (MAC) Anytime Goalscorers @ 4/1

I'm predicting goals in Tarneit on Saturday, so let's back the two most likely scorers on each side to find the net, too.

Ibusuki has three goals for United since making the move from Adelaide United in the off-season, netting the equaliser in a 1-1 draw with Western Sydney Wanderers on October 27 before bagging a brace in a 3-1 win over Perth Glory on November 22.

The experienced Japanese forward is now in his fourth ALM campaign having struck 28 times across three seasons for Adelaide, with over half (15) of that total coming in 2023/24. Fellow attacker Noah Botic has taken the headlines in recent weeks - for the right and wrong reasons - and it was the 22-year-old who scored United's only goal of the game last week.

Nevertheless, I think we'll see Ibusuki can back in the goals again on Saturday, and he could be joined by Bulls star Germain, who starred in France with the likes of AS Monaco before embarking on an Australian adventure.

The 34-year-old enjoyed a successful first season with the Bulls, scoring 12 times in 28 ALM appearances before helping Miles Sterjovski's side win the Australia Cup in September.

He already has three ALM goals to his name this term, the latest of which was the Bulls' fourth in a 4-4 draw with the Roar, and he was on target in his last appearance against United, opening the scoring from the spot in the 17th minute on April 6.

In a game that could be full of goals, backing the teams' star strikers to score anytime in a 4/1 Bet Builder might be worthy of consideration.

Offers

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