After a wonderful break to the domestic competition, where the squads enjoyed a decent rest and the Socceroos walked away with six points from two matches, A-League action recommences on Friday when the Bulls and Jets get things started in Sydney.

Wellington might now be out of the running for finals, but will look to mess around with Western Sydney’s charge towards them on Saturday and Sydney FC hosts Melbourne City in a Saturday night blockbuster. Just a few hours later, the original rivalry erupts at AAMI Park, and the Mariners host Perth in what now looks like something of a meaningless late-season clash.

Brisbane host ladder leading Auckland on Sunday afternoon and the visitors will look to maintain top spot. Good luck with your tips for the round and be sure to enter them in the sheet below to have a say in the voice of the people.

Here is the way the panel sees all the action unfolding across six matches this weekend.

Mike Tuckerman

Macarthur, Western Sydney, Draw, Victory, Central Coast, Auckland

Every time you think Macarthur Bulls are out of the race for finals football, they go and pull off a 5-4 win. True, that’s only happened once, but it’s hard to discount the Campbelltown outfit when they just keep hanging around. The Jets were annihilated 6-2 by Western United before the international break, so while there should be goals, I reckon the Bulls.

It’s all over bar the shouting for a Wellington Phoenix side that has struggled to replicate last season’s form. They were decent enough value for their 1-1 draw with Sydney FC last time out, but they’ll come up against an in-form Western Sydney. With the visitors looking to shore up a top four spot, they should get the job done across the ditch.

Sydney FC have a monumental ACL Two clash with Lions City Sailors coming up, and you wonder if their Asian exploits might see them take their eye off domestic action. The Sky Blues have struggled to string wins together all season, and they come up against a Melbourne City that is typically hard to beat. It’s hard to separate the two teams at Allianz Stadium.

Melbourne Victory threw away a 2-0 lead in their most recent 4-2 defeat to the Western Sydney Wanderers, with Arthur Diles yet to convince he’s the man for the top job. These two sides go in neck and neck in the race for a finals spot, with the Reds still smarting from that crazy 5-4 defeat to Macarthur. I’m tipping Victory to edge the match of the round.

Arthur Diles. (Photo by Jonathan DiMaggio/Getty Images)

Spare a thought for the bean-counters at Paramount+ when the Central Coast Mariners host Perth Glory in a match that few fans will bother to tune in to. Mark Jackson has worked wonders in Gosford but the Mariners have run out of steam under the likable Englishman. Glory are easily the worst team in the league and they’ll lose on this trip to the east coast.

Brisbane Roar’s 3-1 win over Perth Glory in the west is too little too late for a club that has thrown their season away. I’ve been saying all season they’re not as bad as results suggest, and with plenty of rain predicted, they may benefit from a heavy Suncorp Stadium pitch more than the visitors do. It’s just hard not to back the champions-elect on recent form alone.

Stuart Thomas

Macarthur, Wellington, Sydney, Victory, Central Coast, Auckland

The Bulls have everything to play for and will need plenty of home fans and bells to get them over the line against the Jets. I think they can manage it. Western Sydney prove they are the real deal with a win in Wellington, can they do so? A draw seems likely but Ill back the home side in this one.

Sydney FC need to put the pedal down and start performing consistently, or else sixth place becomes their best chance of qualifying for finals play. City visit but the real Sky Blues have the weapons to win this one. Melbourne Victory should beat an out of form Adelaide, but that means nothing in the A-League.

No one cares who wins between the Mariners and Perth, except fans of both clubs. For what it is worth, the men in yellow will grab the three points. Can Brisbane stun the ladder leaders? I doubt it, but the weird results will really ramp up late in the year. No this time Brisbane, you have been awful.

David Shilovsky

Draw, Wanderers, City, Victory, Mariners, Auckland

Andrew Prentice

Newcastle, Western Sydney, Sydney, Victory, Central Coast, Auckland

That loud bang heard two weeks ago was not an FA18 breaking the sound barrier, it was the Jets bubble bursting in a humbling loss to Western United. Macarthur meanwhile pulled a stunning performance out of the vault in a 5-4 win in Adelaide, tempered by the fact everyone now beats Adelaide in Adelaide.

The odds lean towards the home team, but the Jets didn’t suddenly become bad in one game, and with a refresh after the international break, their young attack may be too much for a leaky Bulls defence to handle.

The Wanderers are the form team of the competition, a great place to be with the finals looming. Wellington are sitting on the proverbial beach now, an eye towards a post-season rebuild to recapture the essence of their previous two seasons.

The Wanderers may have to do without Brandon Borello, dependent on how he pulls up after Socceroos duty. But they have rotated their attack to great effect and will pose the Phoenix defence too many questions they don’t have answers to.

Brandon Borrello of Western Sydney Wanderers. (Photo by Jeremy Ng/Getty Images)

It’s must-win time for Sydney and their finals chances. Semi finals in ACL2 is fine, and they are favourites to win and go on to host the final, but the league has been a corridor of uncertainty of late. City missed the goalfest of last round, which is good because they’d have brought the goal average down all season. Grinding their way to wins has worked for most of the campaign, but Sydney will be presenting with a fully fit attack which might just be enough to vanquish City’s defensive resolve.

I’ve given up on Adelaide which will be great news for Reds fans as they’ll probably win for the first time in a blue moon here. But the original rivalry is always a cracker and Victory will be smarting from their last-start loss to the Wanderers after leading 2-0.

They’ll also be sweating on the fitness of Socceroos Nishan Velupillay and Ryan Teague. Even with all that, something is broken at the Reds and I’m not sure it can be fixed.

The Mariners gave glimpses of their double premiership form against Auckland, while Perth surrendered meekly to Brisbane in the last round. Goalscoring has been an issue for both sides all season long and it has been a disappointing campaign on either side of the continent.

I’m favouring the Mariners in the Indian Pacific derby pretty much on home ground advantage, and the hope that Alou Kuol can rediscover the form that made him a sensation a few seasons back.

While the Roar have shown signs of life, it is hard to see them climbing over an Auckland side that have set the pace all season. They’ll also want to rectify a run of three successive draws. A win in Brisbane would put them 7 points clear at the top of the table, which would be reason enough for Steve Corica to order some rag and polish to shine up the Premier’s Plate. Not a bad way to cap a club’s first season in existence.

Texi Smith

Macarthur, Wellington, Sydney, Victory, Central Coast, Brisbane

Following their absolutely bonkers game in Adelaide and a much-needed rest while the Socceroos took centre stage, Macarthur FC are back on home soil to take on Newcastle Jets. We know how this game went earlier in the season as the Jets snatched a win, and there will definitely be shades of that game here as Macarthur race into the lead through Kealey Adamson.

When the Jets equalise midway through the second half, the home fans are worried, but Chris Ikonomidis scores twice soon after to calm the nerves.

Wellington Phoenix are on a horror run that was only stemmed by a scrappy draw in Sydney last time out. The visit of form team Western Sydney Wanderers will be a different challenge, and we will not be expecting many goals, despite the visitors being the top scorers in the league this season.

A table-reversing thriller ensues, Paulo Retre scoring from distance to light up the crowd, Nicolas Milanovic scoring with ten minutes to go to set up the grandstand finish, but Hideki Ishige slides home a late winner at the far post to stun the visitors and take all three points.

Sydney FC are getting to the point of no return. They simply have to throw caution to the wind and go for it. With the current personnel at the club, that’s the way they play anyway. Marco Tilio and Mathew Leckie have a field day with the space when Sydney’s slow-moving attacks break down, but when Douglas Costa comes off the bench and Leo Seno is freed into a roaming midfield role, the game turns in Sydney’s favour.

Goals from Adrian Segecic and Patryk Klimala give Sydney the win, and City are left looking over their shoulder at those below as the end-of-season sprint to the finish hots up.

What a cracker of a Saturday night prime-time fixture as Melbourne Victory host Adelaide United in the original rivalry. Adelaide have been slipping down the ladder after holding a finals spot for so long; both teams now level on points.

2-0 up at the break, the Socceroos-laden home team demolish their hesitant opponents in the second period, Zinedine Machach with the pick of the goals in a five-goal thrashing.

Central Coast Mariners can’t buy a win at the moment, but they went so close to an upset at Auckland in the last round of games. Perth Glory were picked apart by lowly Brisbane and quite rightly sit at the bottom of the league. It is a surprise when Lachie Wales smashes home from the edge of the area to give Perth a precious lead, but the scores are level within the minute as Alou Kuol heads home unchallenged.

Christian Theoharous continues where he left off in the second half and provides the spark for the home team to go on and win, only a late Adam Taggart goal making the last few seconds nervous in a 3-2 win for the Mariners.

This is it! Auckland FC to assert their dominance at the top of the table? Or will a rare win for Brisbane last week propel them on to greater things? Suncorp Stadium for once sees a healthy crowd with the league pace-setters in town, and their heroes serve up a treat for the home fans as a timid Auckland buckle in a one-sided first half.

Ben Halloran scores a tap-in after Keegan Jelacic has his shot well saved by Alex Paulsen, and after the expected surge from the visitors in the second half pays no dividends, Brisbane go on to knock in another two goals straight from the training field to win comfortably.

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