Melbourne City vs Western United Tips & Predictions - City's defence to hold firm as they progress to Grand Final

City dismantled Western 3-0 in the first leg last week and it will take a minor miracle for John Aloisi's side to force their way back into this contest.

Western have now failed to score in their last four meetings with City - and now they need to find the back of the net at least three times just to force extra-time. City have only conceded 25 goals this season and are up there with Auckland with the best defence in the competition. It's always tough to find betting angles for these two-legged ties, especially with one team in total control, but I'm going to back City's stoic defence to keep this match Under 2.5 goals at plus money.

City have won eight of the last nine meetings between the teams, including the last four in a row without conceding a single goal.

It's been an extremely impressive season from City, who are now 90 minutes away from returning to the Grand Final.

Despite a massive casualty ward throughout the season, City have repeatedly delivered the goods and found one of their most clinical performances when it mattered most last week, crushing Western 3-0 to gain a huge upper hand heading into this contest.

German Ferreyra opened the scoring for City with just his second goal for the club before a magical strike from Yonatan Cohen doubled their lead. Mat Leckie then came off the bench in the second half to score his first A-League goal since 2023 to seal the dominant victory.

Aurelio Vidmar is expected to name the same side that cruised past Western in the first leg.

Western were one of the standout teams in the regular season and held their nerve to beat Adelaide 3-2 in the elimination finals, with the competition's leading scorer Noah Botic netting a hat-trick.

However, Botic was left out of the starting squad last week and Western could have done with their star striker as they missed several good chances in the opening half.

Despite battling a quad strain, Botic came off the bench in the second half, but struggled to make an impact. Western will need Botic to deliver in the second leg if they are to have any chance of overturning their 0-3 deficit.

Aloisi will likely start Botic if the striker is anywhere near full fitness.