The 2023-24 A-League season begins this weekend with the first fixture taking place on Friday, October 20th. That means it’s the perfect time to look at some of the most popular futures markets and try to identify some value. With that said, we bring you our best bet for the Grand Final Winner and Top Goal Scorer markets below!
Also, we’ll be providing previews and betting tips for every fixture of the 2023-24 A-League season, so be sure to check out our Soccer Tips page to keep up to date with all of our content.
2023-24 A-League Futures Betting Tips
Grand Final Winner
Although there are years where some teams pop up out of nowhere and go all the way to winning the Grand Final, it’s still very rare and it’s more likely than not that this season’s winner is currently in the top half of the chances in the betting market. As it stands, there are six teams that are priced as $10 or shorter to win the Grand Final this season.
Melbourne City ($4 at Ladbrokes) – How do City bounce back from their humiliating loss in last season’s Grand Final? I guess we’ll find out in the first couple of weeks of the new season. Their 6-1 loss to the Mariners in the big dance made it three runners-up finishes from their past four campaigns. They’ve only once been able to capitalise on their regular season dominance, which came in 2021. City have had relatively high squad turnover since the Grand Final on June 3rd, and the feeling is it could go one of two ways. However, at 4-1 odds there are certainly more enticing bets in this market.
Western Sydney Wanderers ($7 at BoomBet) – The Wanderers enjoyed a resurgence in 2022-23 but will be looking to go a step further in the upcoming season. They made some of the more useful moves in the off-season, picking up Lachlan Brook and Marcus Antonsson, both of whom have been scoring goals for fun in the leadup games. The bookies have certainly taken notice and have given them the second shortest odds to become champions for the first time.
Central Coast Mariners ($7.50 at Neds) – Surprising everyone to become champions last season, the Mariners won’t be flying under the radar this time around. However, going back-to-back has only been done twice in the A-League era, so it certainly won’t be easy for the boys in yellow & navy. Making things even tougher, the Mariners lost leading goal scorer Jason Cummings, although they’ve picked up Garang Kuol’s older brother Alou who is set to lead the line.
Sydney FC ($8 at Ladbrokes) – After a rare down season in 2021-22, Sydney FC were back in the mix last campaign where they made it to the semi-finals and bowed out to the eventual runners-up in Melbourne City. The Sky Blues have made plenty of changes to bolster their list in the off-season and it’s paid early dividends as they recently won the Australia Cup. At $8 at Ladbrokes Sydney represent the best value to become champions as we approach the start of the season.
Melbourne Victory ($9 at UniBet) – Coming off a horrible season where they finished second last, Melbourne Victory find themselves in the market at around $9. They’ve made a couple of changes to mix things up but haven’t done enough to justify putting any hard-earned on them to go all the way.
Adelaide United ($10 at BoomBet) – Adelaide finished third last season yet find themselves sixth in the betting odds. The loss off Craig Goodwin is a big reason for that, coupled with the fact they haven’t really brought anyone in to fill his shoes. The Reds might find it difficult to compete this campaign.
Top Goal Scorer
The Top Goal Scorer market is another fun futures bet to have on at the start of the season. and there are currently three players that the bookies have clearly identified as the main threats to top the goal scoring charts.
Jamie MacLaren ($2.50 at Ladbrokes) – The Golden Boot winning machine tops the list and for good reason. MacLaren has won each of the last four Golden Boot’s and now has five in total. The $2.50 about him might seem short and unreasonable, but numbers don’t lie.
Marcus Antonsson ($6 at Bet365) – Has hit the ground running early on with the Wanderers and that’s seen his odds shorten dramatically. However, with just 77 goals in his 269 game career, it’s hard to make a strong case to back him instead of MacLaren.
Oskar Zawada ($7 at Neds) – Scoring 15 goals from 25 appearances for the Phoenix last season, Zawada enjoyed his best season of his career. He’ll lead the line for the Phoenix again and should reach double-figure goals, but it’s tough to see him winning the Golden Boot ahead of some others.
