All eyes will be turned to the AAMI Park stadium on the 12th of March 2025 where two contenders for the Women’s A-League will battle for 3 points that might determine the fate of the league winner although there are still a few rounds left to the end of the season. Our fixture of interest is none other than Melbourne City Women vs Adelaide United Women, a match that historically pulls crowds. While an overwhelming majority think Melbourne City W is the clear favorite, especially given the home advantage, I think we shouldn’t underestimate the strengths of Adelaide United W.
Melbourne City W – The Powerhouse
Melbourne City is picking up right from where they left off last season and in a very stylish manner. They won the league title last season and if there was ever any hope that they would slow the pace this new season, all that hope should have already been dissipated by now as they’ve been recording solid performances every matchday, taking their tally to 40 out of a possible 54. In 18 matches played so far, they’ve won 11, drew 7, and lost none. They are the only unbeaten team in the league so far. Adelaide United will be hopeful to put an end to this unbeaten run, but they will need to put up a very great performance to be able to achieve such an exploit come the 16th of March.
While Melbourne City has been very dominant in the league this season, they drew many games as well. In fact, in their last 5 fixtures, they drew 2, one of which was the last match against away Canberra United 1-1.
Michael Matricciani will need to galvanize his girls to avoid making the errors they made in that game against Canberra United to avoid a shocker that will equally make the title race very open. Furthermore, his team holds just a two-point lead over 2nd placed Melbourne Victory FC, thus a draw will be very bad for them, talk less of a defeat.
Adelaide United Women – The Underdog
The term underdog might not fit well for a team that is unbeaten in their last 5 league games, notably winning 4 of the encounters, but compared to their opponent, they can be considered underdogs. In 18 matches played, Adelaide United W won 11 (same as the top 2 teams), drew 3, and lost 4. Their total points tally stands at 36, just 4 less than the league leaders and their adversary for the day.
Unlike Melbourne United Women who drew their last match, Adelaide United won Central Coast Mariners at home 1-0 and are coming to this game with lots of motivation. Coach Adrian Stenta will need his goal-scoring duo Chelsie Dawber and Fiona Worts in top shape to pose threads to the Melbourne City defense.
My Prediction
Both teams are very solid, especially offensively. However, they equally concede lots of goals. Melbourne City has conceded 17 goals this season while Adelaide has conceded 21, hence the goals market would seem to be a good betting option, however, I’m going with a half-time draw bet. I expect a very prudent first half whereby both teams will be cautious in their gameplay and the game will become more open in the second half. The bookie odd for this bet is around 2.52 and you can profit from this by signing up on BettingSoftware today.
