SD Raiders vs Macarthur FC Tips & Predictions - Reigning champions Macarthur launch Australia Cup campaign

The Raiders have enjoyed a fairytale tournament to advance into the Australia Cup R32, defeating higher-fancied opposition such as Blacktown City, Rockdale Ilinden and Wollongong Wolves in the preliminary rounds. Their reward? A blockbuster R32 showdown with the defending champions.

Macarthur have excelled in the Australia Cup during their short history, winning two of the last three editions - including a 1-0 triumph over Melbourne Victory in last year's final. However, it wasn't a great A-League campaign for Macarthur, who lost a bunch of attacking talent in the January transfer window and ultimately failed to recover, missing out on a spot in the finals. This should be a fairly straightforward Australia Cup opener for the Bulls as they look to go deep once again.

This will be the first ever meeting between the two teams.

The Raiders are currently sitting in fifth spot on the NSW NPL 2 ladder, winning 13 of their 25 games and only two points behind leaders Northern Tigers in what is an extremely close competition.

However, the Raiders' focus lately has been on the Australia Cup, where they have registered some impressive results to qualify for the R32.

Indeed, the Raiders knocked off the Wollongong Wolves in Round 5 and Rockdale Ilinden in Round 6 before a 2-1 triumph over Blacktown City to book their spot in the competition proper. Noah Chianese opened the scoring before Mihael Marcic's strike in the 55th minute proved the difference.

Macarthur went on an outstanding run to secure their second Australia Cup trophy last year, coming back from multiple deficits in their R16 clash with the Newcastle Jets to prevail 4-3 before toppling Melbourne Victory 1-0 in the final.

Unfortunately for Macarthur, they couldn't translate their cup success to the A-League, where they finished a disappointing eighth on the ladder, winning just nine of their 26 games.

The Bulls lost a heap of attacking talent over the course of last season and are making moves to improve their depth, signing Croatian midfielder Šime Gržan, who could feature alongside the likes of Luke Brattan and Anthony Caceres in this game.