Melbourne Victory vs Auckland FC Prediction & Tips- Odds, H2H and Preview Predictions

Melbourne Victory vs Auckland FC Prediction

The A-League Playoffs begin this weekend, as the winner of the championship comes down to the final four. Melbourne Victory will host Auckland FC in the semi finals on Saturday 17th May at 10:35Am BST. The game will be played at AAMI Park in Melbourne, and the game will be available to watch live Via TNT Sports 4 for UK Viewers.

Key Stats

Melbourne Victory haven't kept a clean sheet in seven matches.

Melbourne Victory have also scored eight goals in their last five matches.

Auckland FC finished top of the A-League this season with 53 points, a ten point gap to their opponents.

Auckland have scored eight goals in their last five games.

Melbourne Victory vs Auckland FC Team Previews, Form and Standout Players

Melbourne Victory Preview

Melbourne Victory finished in fifth place this season, two places behind their third place finish last year. Although, they did beat their point tally of last season by one. The side have scored 44 goals in their entire season, whilst conceding 36 times. Australian native Nishan Velupillay has led the scoring with seven goals and four assists.

Although, Zinedine Machach has also been a key player this year, racking up five goals and six assists.

Melbourne Victory Predicted Lineup: Duncan; Bos, Jackson, Miranda, Inserra; Valadon, Teague; Velupillay, Machach, Arzani; Vergos.

Auckland FC Preview

It could not have went better for Auckland in the A-League this year, as they came out on top, finishing first with 53 points. The side are still very new to football, being created in March 2024. Fair to say they couldn't have expected it to go like this in their first season.

Guillermo May has scored the most this season, scoring nine times, whilst Francis De Vries has led the assists with seven. Neyder Moreno has also been key to Auckland this year, scoring eight and assisting three.

Auckland FC Predicted Lineup: Paulsen; De Vries, Pijnaker, Hall, Sakai; Moreno, Gallegos, Verstraete, Rogerson; May, Mata

Head-to-Head Stats

Due to how new Auckland are to football, the New Zealand side hasn't faced off against Melbourne Victory a lot, only playing each other twice this season so far. Speaking on Victories, Melbourne haven't got the better of Auckland this year, losing 2-0 most recently, whilst drawing the other 0-0.

Betting Tips for Melbourne Victory vs Auckland FC

This semi final game between the two is two legged, meaning this first one might be less eventful, as both sides won't want to risk too much, and would rather give it their all in the second leg. Therefore, I think if there was a likely outcome of this game, it would be for a draw, or potentially Auckland might just come out on top given their strong record against Melbourne this year.

I would suggest a draw, as I don't think either team will want to focus on their attack so much in this first leg.

Final Prediction

For this A-League semi final fixture, I think in this first leg both sides will be more defensive and cautious in their approach, rather than wanting to play more attacking. Therefore, I don't see a flurry of goals in this tie, and would suggest that this game could end in a draw. Auckland of course finished top of the league, and have been considerably better than Melbourne Victory this year, so they could sneak a win, but I think a draw is more likely. I think it will be a **1-1 draw.""