Sydney’s A-League campaign has started with inconsistent play, which is unusual for a team that is so accustomed to success and consistency in their play.
The Central Coast Mariners team faced Sydney last time out at Central Coast Stadium. The Mariners were in a slump after dropping their previous two games.
For the first 30 minutes of the game, Sydney was the superior team, controlling possession and creating numerous scoring opportunities. Luke Brattan, a midfielder, came the closest to giving Sydney the early advantage when he hit the crossbar.
The Sky Blues then took the lead on 11 minutes through Paulo Retre, who took advantage of a mishandled save from Mariners keeper Danny Vukovic after a powerful shot from Sydney winger Robert Mak.
After the goal, the Mariners switched to an attacking style of play, and Brazilian Marco Tulio headed in a beautiful cross from gifted youngster Garang Kuol to tie the score.
Dan Hall gave the Mariners the lead a short time later, and they resolutely defended the rest of the game to defeat Sydney and earn all three points.
Even though his team lost, midfielder Anthony Caceres expressed satisfaction with their performance, saying, “The first 30 minutes were the best we have played all season.”
Macarthur, meanwhile, will feel encouraged by their outstanding victory over Perth Glory last weekend, which saw the Bulls move up to fourth place in the A-League standings.
While Perth had the majority of the possession in the first half, Dwight Yorke’s team played with much more attacking flair in the second period, and just after the break, captain Ulises Davila nearly gave his team the lead.
On the 70th minute, Georgian striker Bachana Arabuli scored the game’s lone goal to open his A-League account and give Macarthur their third victory of the year as Macarthur continued to put Perth’s defence to the test.
The Bulls, who have now scored in seven of their last eight games, will try to defeat Sydney FC and earn all three points for the first time since November 2021.
1×2 Betting Odds
This year, Macarthur has played excellent defence and has a respectable road record, winning eight of their previous 16 away games.
Sydney played well against the Mariners last weekend, but did not get the result they wanted. They will be hoping to change that in this weekend!
And their odds of doing just that stands @ 1.57.
The away side has been excellent in recent games, but despite that they are massive underdogs with odds @ 5.75.
The chances of a stalemate being played out, stands @ 4.90.
Total goals over/under
The odds that the total number of goals score will be over 2.5, stands @ 1.46.
While the odds that the total number of goals will be under 2.5, stands @ 2.97.
So the market expects this game to have at least 3 goals, but with Sydney coming out on top!
