The shortened round from last week helped show a clear divide in the A-League, with two tiers of good teams and bad. The good sides sit in the top six, with the bad sides in the bottom four – Brisbane Roar (6th) are seven points and a game clear of Western Sydney (8th); with new team Western United bridging the gap – they’re halfway between the two, but they’ve only gotten one win in the last two months.
Even within the top calibre, there’s one side that’s way clear – Sydney FC, once again. After Melbourne City’s away loss in New Zealand, the Sky Blues are ten points clear of the competition, with games in hand on their main rivals. Over the rest of the season, we predict them to end up winning the league by sixteen points over Perth Glory, gaining their third Premier’s Plate in four seasons.
Indeed, Sydney’s game this week is set to be one of contrasts, playing the perennial cellar-dwellers Central Coast. Wellington and Perth should also get easy wins this week, with Victory favourites against Newcastle and the Wanderers-Adelaide game too close to call.
The Flag 