Melbourne City v Adelaide United: A-League Saturday preview

Melbourne City simply have to win at home to Adelaide United on Saturday evening to retain any hope of overhauling A-League debutants Auckland FC for the minor premiership.

With two games to go in the regular season City trail the New Zealanders by six points, while the Black Knights also have a far superior goal difference, so City's hopes are all but gone following a 2-2 draw at Western Sydney Wanderers last time out.

The Reds, meanwhile, have to at least avoid defeat to keep alive their finals hopes, with this clash at AAMI Park being their final game of the regular season.

Melbourne City v Adelaide United betting preview

City have plenty to play for

Perhaps more important than a tiny hope of securing the minor premiership is the fact that City can wrap up second place on the ladder and with it an AFC Champions League Elite spot by claiming a win over the Reds.

Head coach Aurelio Vidmar has a number of injury problems to contend with, with Mathew Leckie definitely ruled out by a hamstring injury, although he may be ready for the following week against Sydney FC.

Leckie joins Jimmy Jeggo (Achilles), Andrew Nabbout, Jayden Necovski and James Nieuwenhuizen (all knee) and Samuel Souprayen (calf) on the sidelines, with youngsters Arion Sulemani and Harry Politidis added to the squad as cover.

Vidmar's side have been in fine form in recent weeks, losing only one of their last nine A-League games, but they have struggled to keep their opponents out, having kept just one clean sheet in their last five.

However, they home form in 2025 has been almost perfect, with seven of their games at AAMI Park ending in victory, with the sole failure to take all three points a 1-0 loss to Newcastle Jets in mid-March.

An early Terry Antonis strike decided this fixture last season and City are 4.00 to triumph by a one-goal margin this time around, while they are 12.00 to claim another 1-0 victory.

United collapse proving costly

Adelaide have seen their finals hopes all but disappear in recent weeks as they have won just one of their last ten A-League matches to leave them in seventh place on the ladder - level on points with Sydney FC but with an inferior goal difference.

The Reds have also played one more game than the Sky Blues, with Carl Veart's side completing their regular season on Saturday.

They have at least improved after a run of four successive defeats in which they shipped 17 goals, winning 3-2 at home to Wellington Phoenix before drawing 1-1 at Brisbane Roar.

The visitors do have the boost of knowing that they won 1-0 at home to City in early February, when Archie Goodwin netted the winning goal early in the second half.

Twenty-year-old striker Goodwin is enjoying a breakout season in the A-League, having scored 13 goals in total, including five in his last six appearances for the Reds.

Goodwin, who is level with Sydney FC's Adrian Segecic as the league's leading scorer, is 2.75 to score at anytime on Saturday.

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Melbourne City v Adelaide United odds

Melbourne City - 1.75
Draw - 4.00
Adelaide United - 4.33

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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.