Just four teams remain in the hunt to be crowned 2023-24 A-League Champions, which means it’s semi-finals time. The first leg of these finals will take place this weekend, with Sydney vs Central Coast on Friday night, followed by Wellington Phoenix vs Melbourne Victory on Sunday afternoon. As always, we have you covered with our previews and best bets for both fixtures below!
A-League Semi-Finals First Leg Betting Tips
Sydney FC vs Central Coast Mariners
Friday 10th May, 7:45pm (AEST)
Sydney were able to take some momentum from their dominant finish to the home and away season to dominate Macarthur in their elimination final last weekend, dismantling the Bulls 4-0 on their home deck.
An early goal to Robert Mak set the table for the Sky Blues in the first half, and he doubled his tally as his side poured in three more after the main break. Mak has now scored a brace in back-to-back games and remains a big watch in this one.
Elsewhere, Central Coast were afforded a week off in the first week of the finals due to their top two finish. Their most recent game finished in a 2-0 win against Adelaide to make it five straight victories.
Indeed, the defending champs seem to have found their best form at the pointy end of the season and look to be a very tough team to beat going forward.
Being the lower ranked outfit, Sydney will host the first leg of this series and will start as the odds-on favourites which is a big surprise considering the form of the champs. And at better than 3-1 odds, I’m happy to side with an upset here.
Central Coast Mariners to Win
$3.50 (1 Unit)
Melbourne Victory vs Wellington Phoenix
Sunday 12th May, 4:00pm (AEST)
Melbourne Victory supporters will be without any fingernails due to their epic win against their crosstown rivals in City last week. The match needed more than 120 minutes to decide the victor, but it was Victory who prevailed in penalties.
Victory were the slight favourites heading into their recent fixture but they certainly wouldn’t have been filled with confidence on the back of recent results. They ended the home and away season without a win in three fixtures, losing two of them.
Meanwhile, Wellington have had plenty of time to rest and recoup before what they hope will be a fruitful finals campaign. They finished in the top two in the regular season and were afforded a week off last week.
However, Phoenix perhaps would’ve preferred to continue playing as they ended the season in fantastic form. Their last outing was against Macarthur who they put to the sword by three goals.
Regardless, the Phoenix have been the better team in this matchup all season long and certainly don’t deserve to be at the long odds they’re currently priced at. Again, I prefer the value of the underdogs in this one.
Wellington Phoenix to Win
$4.20 (1 Unit)
