The A-League, run by Football Federation Australia (FFA) is the division at the pinnacle of Aussie football (though the 10-team division does include one side from New Zealand). It is a relatively new league, established in 2004 and first contested in the 2005-06 season, but it has been growing in both popularity and in terms of the standard of football played.
The 2015-16 regular season commenced on 8th October 2015 and will run until 10th April 2015, with the finals series starting on 15th April 2016 and the Grand Final to be played on 1st May 2016. Here we bring you our predictions and betting tips for which side will win the A-League this season and compare the latest betting odds in the Outright Winner market in our search for the best value.
Current champions Melbourne Victory are the favourites to retain their crown at the time of writing with Bet365 offering the best betting odds of 5/2. They topped the table after the regular season last term with 53 points from their 27 games, finishing three points ahead of second placed Sydney FC. The Victory are a little off the pace as things stand and are six points adrift of the leaders, Western Sydney Wanderers, but the Wanderers have played a game more.
Victory are managed by former Crystal Palace, Wolves, Rangers and Millwall hard man Kevin Muscat, and he has instilled a real battling spirit in the side that makes them extremely difficult to beat. Not blessed with many true stars, the squad is mainly made up of proven Aussies with a couple of foreign players thrown in. But the mix works well and as things stand they are worthy favourites for the title.
Of course, in a competitive division such as the A-League, odds of 5/2 aren’t going to get you leaping for your wallet. Slightly further out in the outright betting, but still not at odds that are going to make you rich, are the current table-toppers, West Sydney Wanderers. They are also managed by an ex-Crystal Palace man in Tony Popovic and the Wanderers won the regular season in 2012-13 but missed out on becoming champions after Central Coast Mariners unexpected went all the way. Popovic will be determined to lead his team to their first A-League title this season, but we feel they will fall short once again.
Our main betting tip for 2015-16 A-League glory, however, comes in the form of Brisbane Roar, who are priced at attractive betting odds of 8/1 with Bet365 and who are currently sitting in second position in the division after 10 games. Having played for a host of clubs around the world including Alaves, Osasuna, Portsmouth and Cremonese, Brisbane boss John Aloisi was the first Australian to play and score in the Premier League, La Liga and Serie A. We predict that Brisbane will do the business this year once again after becoming champions three times in the last few years (2011, 2012 and 2014).
With a nice blend of youth and experience, Aloisi has a good squad of players at his disposal and with a sizeable support of over 50,000 behind them, they are formidable on home soil. They need to score a few more goals to really push for the title, but for us they are the value pick in the A-League Outright Winner betting as things stand.