Macarthur FC vs Perth Glory A-League Round 1 Tips & Prediction - Macarthur to open with home win
Macarthur FC are tipped to kick off their A-League season with a victory over Perth Glory. After a major squad overhaul, bringing in 16 new players including Apostolos Stamatelopoulos and Ryan Fraser, Macarthur are expected to be strong at home. Perth, in contrast, have lost key players in the offseason, added only a handful of new faces, and will be missing important defenders due to injury. The preview concludes that Macarthur should secure all three points, while suggesting Perth could still score in defeat.
- Macarthur FC vs Perth Glory predictions for Saturday's A-League R1 game
- Glory traditionally struggle on the road; tipped to struggle here
- Macarthur boast strong, new-look squad & tipped to prevail at home
- The game is scheduled for kick off at 5.00pm AEDT on Saturday October 17
Macarthur FC vs Perth Glory A-League Round 1 Tips & Prediction
Macarthur FC are tipped to begin the new A-League campaign by claiming all three points against a Perth Glory side who could find themselves languishing at the bottom of the ladder again this season.
We've highlighted in earlier A-League previews how there's always plenty of player turnover during the offseason, but Macarthur have taken things to a new level, adding a whopping 16 players to their roster.
Some of them are brilliant signings too, led by proven A-League striker Apostolos Stamatelopoulos and former Bournemouth winger Ryan Fraser, who arrives after an impactful cameo for the Wanderers last term.
Perth meanwhile have lost experienced striker Adam Taggart, along with Nicolas Pennington and Lachie Wales. Josh Risdon has also retired.
Glory haven't really added any big names to their squad ahead of the new campaign, although Henry Hore is a solid pickup from Brisbane.
But I just can't see Perth making any sort of finals push and they appear destined to battle it out trying to avoid the wooden spoon.
It's the perfect opening fixture for Macarthur and they should launch the season by securing all three points at home - but Perth can get on the scoresheet in defeat after troubling the Bulls across the last campaign.
Stamatelopoulos was prolific in his last full A-League season with the Jets, while Tom Lawrence has been handed the captain's armband for Perth and will be looking to lead from the front.
Macarthur FC vs Perth Glory Stats & Trends
- BTTS has landed in five of the last seven meetings
- Perth have seen BTTS land in four of their last five A-League games
- Macarthur have seen BTTS land in six of their last seven A-League games
- Apostolos Stamatelopoulos scored 17 goals for Newcastle in the 2023-24 season
- Tom Lawrence scored vs Macarthur last season and the Welsh attacker will captain Perth this term
Macarthur FC vs Perth Glory Head To Head
Macarthur lead the H2H 7-4 alongside four draws, but Perth enjoyed success in this matchup last term, winning two of the three meetings, along with a draw.
Macarthur FC Form Analysis
Macarthur missed out on the finals last season, finishing in seventh spot on the ladder with nine wins from their 26 games.
Ultimately juggling their AFC Champions League 2 campaign proved too difficult to overcome, with the Bulls missing out on the finals by four points following a poor end to the season in which they lost six of their final nine games.
Mile Sterjovski has assembled a new-look squad ahead of the new season and the Australia Cup proved too soon for his team to click, with Macarthur crashing out in extra-time to NPL NSW club SD Raiders in the R16.
Macarthur FC Team News
As mentioned, a total of 16 players have arrived at Macarthur.
These include Nathan Paull, Ben Gibson, Jing Reec, Jonathan Aspropotamitis, James Hilton, Kosta Grozos, Connor Pain, Kai Kennedy, Ryan Fraser, Tatsuki Nara, Musa Toure, Apostolos Stamatelopoulos and Dylan Rose.
Unfortunately, former Newcastle Jets captain Kosta Grozos injured his knee during training and will be sidelined for up to a month. Kennedy - who arrived from the lower tiers of Scottish football - is also unavailable for selection here.
Pain has well over 200+ games of A-League experience under his belt and is handy pickup, while Musa Toure - brother of Socceroos star Mo - is back after stints in Europe with Clermont and Randers.
Nara also arrives on loan from J-League side Avispa Fukuoka and could start in the centre of defence.
Liam Rose has been handed the captaincy for this season.
Macarthur FC Possible Starting XI (4-2-1-3): Alex Robinson, Callum Talbot, Jonathan Aspropotamitis, Tatsuki Nara, Harry Politidis, Liam Rose, Oliver Randazzo, Ryan Fraser, Ben Gibson, Luke Vickery, Apostolos Stamatelopoulos
Perth Glory Form Analysis
It was another disappointing season for Perth, who finished in 10th spot on the ladder with eight wins.
At least it was an improvement from their wooden spoon campaigns from the previous two seasons, where they notched up nine wins in total.
Adam Griffiths enjoyed a bright start to his managerial career at Glory, but his side faded as the season went on, including an eight-game winless run from February to April.
Not much to write home about in the offseason either, with Perth bombing out of the Australia Cup R32 to Queensland Lions.
Perth Glory Team News
Perth's squad looks a little light to me, with Matthew Dench, Lucas Scicluna, Calem Nieuwenhof (loan), Henry Hore, Lachlan Jackson, Daniel Solsky, Cher Deng, Matt Ellis and Pieter Jacobsz the new arrivals.
Nieuwenhof is a good signing, along with the experienced Hore, while Jackson provides another option in defence, but I don't think they transform this Glory side into finals contenders.
Welsh international winger Lawrence will captain the side as he looks to add to the five goals he scored last term.
Some problems at the back to start the season, with defensive trio Charbel Shamoon (foot), Matt Dench (foot) and Brian Kaltak (knee) all injured.
Perth Glory Possible Starting XI (4-2-3-1): Daniel Solsky; Tadiwanashe Kuzamba, Lachlan Jackson, Andriano Lebib, Sam Sutton; Lucas Scicluna, Calem Nieuwenhof; Henry Hore, Stefan Colakovski, Tom Lawrence; Jaiden Kucharski
Verdict
Macarthur should have too much firepower up front & are backed for all three points at home.
Macarthur Win
H2H
$1.92 - 3 Units
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