A-League tipping: Round 16 – Must-win Big Blue, Wanderers and Bulls look to cement top-six spots

It is another monster week of A-League action in a season that just keeps giving for fans of football in Australia.

The Big Blue kicks off the Round 16 matches on Saturday, with Melbourne Victory in a slump and facing the team they hate the most. Wellington have life after a mid-week win and face the Mariners who also showed some real grit to win last week.

The Jets and Glory meet in a battle that will have a say in who eventually wins the wooden spoon for season 2024/25, Macarthur hosts Melbourne City in a belter on Saturday night and the frustrating Wanderers welcome the travelling Auckland on Sunday afternoon.

A mid-week clash between Western United and Central Coast rounds out the week of tipping and good luck with yours. Be sure to enter them in the sheet below and have a say in the voice of the crowd.

Here is the way the panel sees all the action unfolding in Round 16.

Mike Tuckerman

Sydney, Wellington, Newcastle, City, Draw, United

Talk about a Big Blue. It’s a crunch clash at AAMI Park when seventh-placed Victory host their arch-rivals from the harbour city. Victory have looked unconvincing under interim coach Arthur Diles, although they should have beaten Western United. Sydney FC didn’t turn up against Brisbane Roar last time out. Both sides will be desperate, but the visitors have more quality.

Wellington Phoenix are on the road again. Giancarlo Italiano’s men recorded a much-needed victory over Macarthur on Monday, and Phoenix fans will hope they can back up for just the second time this season. I think they’ll fire up in front of a partisan crowd.

Welcome to Newcastle, Kota Mizunuma. The Jets have signed the experienced winger from Yokohama F. Marinos and they’ll be hoping the twice-capped-Japan international can help change their fortunes. Robbie Stanton has, at times, bemoaned his team’s lack of fight, but they’ll come up against a Perth Glory side that still looks pretty ordinary. It’s the Jets to win here.

Is there a more bewildering team in the A-League than Macarthur? They’ve only won once at home all season – in the opening round – and went down 2-1 to an out-of-sorts Wellington last time out. The question is, have Melbourne City run out of steam? They were hammered by Auckland across the ditch, but should have enough in the tank to secure all three points.

The clock is slowly ticking on Western Sydney’s season, after they went down 3-1 at home in their most recent clash. They’ve only recorded back to back wins once so far, and have tended to follow a decent performance with a diabolical one. That said, Auckland FC go into this on the back of a midweek clash in Adelaide. I expect these two sides to cancel each other out.

Juan Mata dribbles. (Image credit: Texi Smith)

After easing to a 3-1 win over the Newcastle Jets, Western United coach John Aloisi probably wishes there wasn’t a 12-day break between games for his side. The green-and-blacks are one of the league’s form teams and they face a Central Coast side on the end of a five-game road trip. With the Mariners back in action after a four-day break, they’ll come undone in Tarneit.

Stuart Thomas

Sydney, Wellington, Newcastle, Macarthur, Western Sydney, United

On form, Sydney FC put the cleaners through Victory on Friday but these sorts of matches are rarely that simple. In saying that, the Sky Blues will win it by two clear goals. Wellington back in the winners list and up against the Mariners who also grabbed much needed points last time out. A tight one with the home side the better for the crowd.

Perth are building and fighting, whilst the Jets are far from hopeless. With Brisbane Roar on the rise, the race for bottom spot is on. The Jets too good here but by the skin of their teeth. The brilliant run of defiance in the face of injury from Melbourne City has finally come to an end and the Bulls might inflict another defeat on them this Saturday. Key men back to form and Macarthur continue to be hot and cold.

Can the Wanderers finally become the team they so clearly threaten to be? Wins against quality like Auckland will go a long way towards achieving that. For some reason, I think they might get it done against a New Zealand side that clearly plays better across the ditch.

Western United have enjoyed a lovely rest and the Mariners are busy despite keeping their heads above A-League water. Ironbark to make all the difference, as it will do increasingly in the years to come. 3-0 to the home side.

David Shilovsky

Sydney, Wellington, Newcastle, City, Western Sydney, United

A rare Friday night Big Blue comes to us from AAMI Park to begin the round. Both sides will be hungry after Victory’s poor run of form, and the Sky Blues’ humbling loss at home to the struggling Brisbane Roar. It should be a tight contest but I’ll stick with Sydney.

Joseph Lolley of Sydney celebrates scoring (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)

Saturday’s action begins at Sky Stadium, with the Nix and Mariners locking horns. You’d have to think it’s now or never for the champions to really get their defence started, but Wellington away is never an easy fixture.

Newcastle, despite their unflattering record, have put in some good home performances this season. Both sides are still struggling but I think home ground advantage makes the difference here.

City taking on the Bulls is another interesting fixture. Aurelio Vidmar is doing more with less, while Macarthur can look great one minute, and terrible the next. Difficult one to pick.

Auckland visit CommBank Stadium, where the Wanderers have failed to pick up points on a regular basis. They weren’t up for the Mariners game, as Alen Stajcic admitted post-game. They’ll need to be good to beat Auckland.

Central Coast will be backing up from the trip to New Zealand when they travel to Ironbank, while United are well rested. A difficult task for any club.

Andrew Prentice

Sydney, Draw, Newcastle, City, Western Sydney, United

A rare-ish Friday night clash for the Big Blue, with both sides feeling that colour after last weekend. The lighter blues got comprehensively undone by a hitherto winless Brisbane and looked awful. Victory fell in an Original Derby thriller, which is no shame, but extends a winless run to coincide with the loss of Patrick Kisnorbo.

I’m tipping Sydney due to their recent solid record against Victory, but do so with little confidence, and the wrath of most of my Fantasy A League opponents, who bleed navy.

Both Phoenix and Mariners had good results last week. Whether that means they’ve navigated a tricky ascent or are one step away from another crevasse remains to be seen. Neither has filled their fans with confidence.

The Mariners scored three last week for only the second time since last season’s grand final. The goal scoring backpack hangs heavy on Alou Kuol’s shoulders. I fancy a 1-1 draw, as both sides find it hard to break down their opponents.

The Jets find themselves in depressingly familiar territory, and were ambushed in the first 30 minutes at Ironbark before making a game of it. When they do make a game of it, they look like a side to be reckoned with.

They have attacking firepower, which is not great news for a Perth defence that concedes 2.5 goals per game. That kind of charity hasn’t yet been weighed up by goals at the other end, with Adam Taggert’s golden boot prospects looking more like a muddy Dunlop Volley.

Adam Taggart celebrates with teammates (Photo by Mark Brake/Getty Images)

A Jets win would see them go 5 points clear of the Glory, with 2 games in hand. Young strikers Clayton Taylor and Ben Gibson will be eager to make that happen.

Macarthur have a habit of getting too comfortable at Campbelltown. Another early lead blown against Wellington left coach Mile Sterjovski scratching his head at his side’s home hospitality. City’s vaunted defensive credentials came unstuck in 15 miserable minutes against Auckland.

Their injury list is still extensive enough that they could run a six round Subbuteo knockout tournament in the treatment room, but their resilience has been without question, apart from the aforementioned Auckland quarter-hour horror show. I think they’ll bounce back against a Bulls side who are victims of their own beautiful inconsistency.

It’s a hard lesson-learned that A League tipping always contains the unexpected. While last week’s results wouldn’t point to it, the Wanderers had been great up to their surprise loss to Central Coast.

Auckland won more comfortably than usual and coach Steve Corica has many a Sydney derby memory to fuel his Black Knights’ visit to Wanderland, but they’ll have come through a Wednesday night clash with Adelaide, which may just blunt their momentum. Wanderers to surprise with a win here.

The bonus midweek game takes us back to Ironbark where the league’s surprise packet take on the champions. Drop a Google Maps pin on Ironbark Fields and the satellite version looks like a landscape shot from Wolf Creek.

Maybe that’s what’s scaring Western’s opponents. Hiroshi Ibusuki didn’t score last week (annoying most of the aforementioned Fantasy League managers) so he’s due to this time. The Mariners will be leg and travel weary after a trip to Wellington. Western are poised to take advantage.

Texi Smith

Sydney, Wellington, Newcastle, Macarthur, Western Sydney, United

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