Wellington Phoenix vs Brisbane Roar Predictions

Wellington Phoenix enter the game this weekend following a terrible start to the season that has seen them pick up just one point and concede nine goals. The New Zealand side look low on confidence but by picking up their first point of the season last weekend, against Melbourne Victory, could have a renewed vigour. The side can count themselves a little unlucky to be in this position though, and look to be underperforming across the board with the majority of their stats at around the same level as their competition. Something will need to change for Ufuk Talay’s team though as they already find themselves five points off the playoff spots.

Brisbane Roar picked up their first win of the season last weekend after their own less than convincing start to the new season. They had only scored once prior to their match against Melbourne City and it was a bit of a shock when they came back from 3-1 down to pick up the 4-3 victory. The result showed the kind of resolve that Robbie Fowler has looked to instil in his squad and showed that there is some goalscoring potential in the ranks. Defensively, the team have looked solid but the ease at which Jamie Maclaren snatched a hat trick against them last week will cause some concern and things might look a little tighter this weekend.

There is a bit of added pressure on Wellington this weekend as they know anything other than a win here will see them equal their worst ever run and they’ll be keen to keep their names out of the record book in that instance. They have no injury problems though and will look to their recent history against Brisbane Roar as an indication that they may come out on top with the last six games between the two only seeing one loss for Wellington. In recent years this fixture has seen plenty of goals too with an average of five per game in the last 3 at Westpac Stadium.

With that in mind we’re predicting a close, high scoring affair between the two sides with home advantage for Wellington Phoenix evening things out a little. A 2-2 draw looks like a good bet at 11.0 odds and, with both sides, looking to continue on an upwards trajectory that result would probably suit both managers. Our other tip for this game is for the sides to fail to be separated at half time or the full time whistle and Draw/Draw on the Half Time/Full Time market looks nice at a price of 6.0. It’s certainly hard to pick the team apart but an even result looks like it could be the most likely outcome.