Melbourne City Vs Wellington Phoenix

Melbourne City and Wellington Phoenix will meet following a highly exciting meeting between Adelaide United and Perth Glory to round up the 2022/23 A-League Round 4 in what promises to be a spectacular affair.

When: Sunday, October 30 – 16:00 AEDT
Where: AAMI Park in Melbourne, Australia
Weather: Rainy, 21°C

Melbourne City are flying high, having yet to drop a single point, whereas Wellington Phonenix have found themselves on the other side of the spectrum, as the Nix still seek their first three points of the 2022/23 A-League season.

But can the Phoenix break their dry streak and hand City their first loss? Let’s find out!

Wellington Phoenix – In Search For The First W

Wellington Phoenix have had a rough start to the 2022/23 A-League season, having produced just two points from the opening three rounds. They drew their first two outings against Adelaide United (1-1) and Central Coast Mariners (2-2) and then had to admit defeat against Newcastle Jets (1-3), who handed them a heavy loss last week.

On a more positive note, Wellington Phoenix have a solid record against the Melbourne side. Over their last five meetings, the Nix are 1-2-2, which includes a 2-1 victory in August during the Australia Cup. Having shown that they can compete against Melbourne City, Wellington Phoenix should feel hopeful that they can take down the unbeaten squad.

The optimism should further be supported by Melbourne City’s fairly unconvincing showings in their recent outings. Yet, that doesn’t mean that three points will come easy for the visitors.

Melbourne City – Can They Make It Four In A Row?

Melbourne City have yet to lose a game this season, and they’ll surely want to keep that record alive. Patrick Kisnorbo’s men kicked off the season with a 2-1 victory against the defending champions Western United, to which they added two 2-0 sweeps of Brisbane Roar and Melbourne Victory.

But despite what their record suggests, City did look a bit sloppy in their last matches. Notably, against Victory, City had a few close moments and were a bit lucky to come away with the 2-0 scoreline – their only goal came via a penalty, and Melbourne City were playing with ten men since the 35th minute. City still deserved to win, though, so we won’t criticise them too much.

Perhaps we’re a bit too critical of Melbourne City, who definitely have shown enough to earn the right to be 3-0 with a phenomenal 3-1 record. But there’s something in their play that suggest that this streak won’t last for a long time.

Melbourne City vs Wellington Phoenix Betting Odds

Melbourne City are priced as 1.50 favourites (1.53 PInancle), Wellington Phoenix as 6.00 (5.98 Pinnacle) underdogs, while a draw is at 4.50 (4.77 Pinnacle).

Melbourne City opened as 1.47 favourites, so there was a slight movement in the odds, but nothing too crazy – granted, nothing has happened that would warrant any major odds movements.

Melbourne City vs Wellington Phoenix A-League Betting Picks

Wellington Phoenix might be 0-2-1, but they have been playing well. Last week they lost against the Jets (1-3), but there were some positives to take from that match. Notably, they produced 24 shots (eight on goal) with 58% ball possession.

But even though we saw some flashes of greatness from the Nix, beating Melbourne City won’t come easy, and they’ll have to show a lot more on Sunday if they can to collect all three points. It’s easy to look good against weaker teams, and considering the Nix were unable to break the Jets, then it’s fair to say that their chances of upsetting Melbourne City are slim.

It wouldn’t shock us to see Wellington Phoenix stop Melbourne City, but we won’t count on that happening. This is not one of our A-League picks where we’ll trust the underdogs.