Aust. A-League
2024-03-09 - Melbourne City vs Wellington Phoenix
A Sports Betting Pick by ArmchairPunter
Football : Australia: A-League
Venue: AAMI Park
Saturday 9th March 2024, 1930hrs
Melbourne City will be looking forward to returning to the home surroundings of AAMI Park when they play host to the A-League leaders Wellington Phoenix on Friday night having played four of their last five games away from home.
Three defeats and a draw have prevented Melbourne City from lifting themselves up into the top six pack in the A-League table and Aurelio Vidmar’s side were not helped by suffering losses on the road at Perth Glory, Brisbane Roar and Macarthur on their recent travels.
However, results on home soil have been a little more encouraging as Melbourne City have lost just twice in their nine home games to date this season amidst an overall home record of 3-4-2 18/10 which includes wins against Sydney FC, Brisbane Roar (8-1) and Adelaide United.
Wellington Phoenix sit top of the A-League standings three points clear of second placed Central Coast Mariners ahead of this round of matches thanks to putting together a solid looking 10-match unbeaten sequence which consists of five wins and five draws for the visitors.
Three of these five wins have been achieved on their travels as the New Zealand outfit have collected important wins on the road at Perth Glory, Newcastle Jets and Macarthur while the bigger picture shows The Phoenix have lost just twice throughout the whole of this season’s A-League campaign.
In addition, Wellington Phoenix have lost just once in their previous 11 outings on the road overall but they have lost their last two visits on the trot at Melbourne City so this upcoming fixture holds no guarantees for Giancarlo Italiano’s side.
The Betting Verdict
The bigger picture shows Melbourne City have lost just three of their last 24 home games and their last home meeting against Wellington Phoenix resulted in a resounding 4-1 victory for the hosts.
The Pick :
Melbourne City 2-1 Wellington Phoenix
