Wellington Phoenix vs Melbourne City Tips, Odds and Teams – A-League 2016 Round 1

Saturday’s A-League 2016 Round 1 match is between Wellington Phoenix and Melbourne City. The opening kick off is set to commence at 17:35 local time with the game to be played at Westpac Stadium. The away team Melbourne City are the favourites for the match. View our preview and teams for the game between Wellington Phoenix and Melbourne City.

City fans will have to wait for the A-League debut of Socceroo star Tim Cahill, who misses the first round due to international duties. However, the former Everton striker’s signing is huge for the league and City, but it will place massive pressure on coach John van’t Schip to deliver the club some silverware. Golden Boot winner Bruno Fornaroli is back and has been named City captain. Last season’s leading scorer, who helped Victory to a record haul of 63 goals last season, will line-up against Phoenix. New Phoenix signings Kosta Barbarouses and Gui Finkler are set to start against their former club. Phoenix will bolster their defence with former Italian centre back Marco Rossi. Home field advantage did not help Phoenix last year, losing seven of their 13 matches and it is unlikely to stop City in the opener.

Sportsbet odds: Wellington $3.00, City $2.20, draw $3.50.
Title: Phoenix ($13), City ($6.00).
Tip: City.

 

Teams:

Wellington Phoenix squad: 1.Glen MOSS (gk), 2.Jacob TRATT, 4.Roly BONEVACIA, 5.Ryan LOWRY, 6.Dylan FOX, 7.Gui FINKLER, 8.Alex RODRIGUEZ, 11.Hamish WATSON, 12.Adam PARKHOUSE, 13.Marco ROSSI, 14.Alex RUFER, 17.Vince LIA (c), 20.Lewis ITALIANO (gk), 21.Roy KRISHNA, 24.Logan ROGERSON, 26.Jack-Henry SINCLAIR

Melbourne City FC squad: 1.Thomas SORENSEN (gk), 2.Manny MUSCAT, 3.Josh ROSE, 4.Connor CHAPMAN, 6.Osama MALIK, 8.Neil KILKENNY, 9.Nicolas COLAZO, 10.Anthony CACERES, 11.Bruce KAMAU, 12.Nick FITZGERALD, 14.Daniel ARZANI, 18.Paulo RETRE, 20.Dean BOUZANIS (gk), 21.Ruon TONGYIK, 22.Michael JAKOBSEN, 23.Bruno FORNAROLI, 26.Luke BRATTAN, 27.Fernando BRANDAN

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