A-League Men Round 21 Preview: Can Adelaide claw back some space on Auckland?

A blockbuster title decider headlines what is set to be a deterministic weekend of A-League action in Round 21 of the 2024/25 season.

This round carries with it an interesting dynamic. Auckland vs Adelaide and Sydney vs Macarthur represent ‘six-pointers’, however recent player movement (whether in January or to the U20s for the Asian Cup) leaves clear favourites despite what the table might say.

Whereas for the rest of the round, all the teams ranked between third and sixth are playing those in the bottom four of the ladder.

Each game therefore has a clear argument for a side that should be winning that game. But as has been shown so far this season, not winning the games you’re supposed to has been a thorn in many sides, leading to one of the closest finals races we have ever seen.

You can also watch/listen to our crew’s preview and predictions for this round on Spotify and YouTube.

Auckland FC v Adelaide United: Saturday 3:00pm AEDT

Win this week and the Black Knights will at worst be 10 points clear of their nearest competition for the Premiers Plate – likely with a game in hand as well.

That’s enough for Auckland fans to start the party.

The club will never admit it until it is mathematically impossible to lose, but given how consistently they’ve been playing this season, even through a little injury blip, it is incredibly hard to see how Auckland could let slip that kind of lead.

Adelaide will be clinging to their final hopes of nicking top spot but will have to do so without a number of key players.

Panagiotis Kikianis, Luka Jovanovic, Jonny Yull and sundry are all still away with the Young Socceroos at the U20 Asian Cup, having qualified for the World Cup thanks to their quarter-final victory over Iraq.

Throw in the absence of Ryan Kitto and Dylan Pierias last week due to injury and an already difficult away trip to Mount Smart becomes an even more uphill battle.

The Reds will do very well to take a point away from this. If they don’t, the APL might have to consider booking in the engraver.

Wellington Phoenix v Melbourne City: Friday 5:30pm AEDT

Both coming off undesirable results in their respective derbies last week, both Wellington and City will be looking for instant responses.

However, it is clear that these teams are at two very different levels in terms of their season aspirations. Wellington’s season can almost be considered over after their morale-depleting 6-1 derby loss.

For Aurelio Vidmar’s side, the return of Andreas Kuen made perhaps the biggest impact out of any of the injured stars coming back into fitness.

Combining with more match minutes for the likes of Mathew Leckie, Max Caputo and Marco Tilio, Melbourne City are again starting to look like a much more frightening opposition.

Before it was the exuberance of the kids, but now it’s just pure quality. Look for this to be the game where we say the refreshed Melbourne City have finally arrived.

Central Coast Mariners v Western United: Friday 7:35pm AEDT

Despite the gap on the table and the clear challenge that this match presents, this game also offers the Central Coast Mariners the opportunity to hit refresh on their season.

To be in a competition for around three months after you’ve already been mathematically eliminated from must hold a massive mental burden.

They have a good historical record against Western United and the 4-0 result against the Wanderers was probably not quite a fair representation on the balance of the match.

If whoever is in goals can put in a stable performance, then they’ll be in with a chance. Although, they will have to go without captain Trent Sainsbury who is suspended through yellow card accumulation.

For John Aloisi’s Western United, the story is very similar to those around them on the table. This is a game you should be winning. If you don’t, you will slide down the ladder. Take your chances.

Brisbane Roar v Melbourne Victory: Saturday 5:00pm AEDT

Another game that sits in front of us with a very clear team as the favourite. Sorry Brisbane fans, but when you win one game all season, you never come in with the odds in your favour.

For Arthur Diles, it’s his responsibility to move his team on quickly from a very disappointing draw against City in the derby. But it’s just as important that their club captain Roderick Miranda clears his own head.

His naively given away penalty to lose their winning position is the latest in a list of key errors made by the Portuguese centre-back that has dearly cost his side.

If dropped points are going to come away to Brisbane, it’s going to be because of simple mistakes like that, and Victory cannot afford to drop points in such a competitive top six climate.

Macarthur FC v Sydney FC: Saturday 7:35pm AEDT

In honour of the Sony Foundation Charity Cup that is fought between the Bulls and Sky Blues every year, Macarthur have released a one-off pink kit in support of the event.

Pink is an interesting choice. Perhaps it was an accidental one, after the brand spanking new white outfits just happened to be put through a cycle with all the red cards that seem to litter this particular fixture.

This match-up has a run of six consecutive games with a red card, and 10 in total over their 12 meetings!

There’s plenty of other narratives running through this one though, with both teams likely to not be full strength.

The Bulls – like Adelaide – still have a number of young players away on international duty in addition to the permanent losses of Jed Drew and Valere Germain in recent weeks.

Whereas Sydney will have perhaps more than just one eye on their midweek clash against South Korea’s Jeonbuk in the first leg of their ACL Two quarter final.

After a lung-busting 120 minutes on Bangkok last week plus an away trip to Perth, not even a full week’s recovery may be enough to ensure proper fitness for one of the biggest games in the club’s history.

Western Sydney Wanderers v Perth Glory: Sunday 5pm AEDT

All season the Wanderers have been one of if not the most dangerous team going forward in full flight but have been chaotically poor defensively at times.

But just like Perth, the last month has been one of improved consistency – albeit to different levels.

Undefeated in their last four with three wins, the Wanderers are making their mark into the top six. Home against Perth represents arguably the best possible match-up to continue their run and establish a little bit of a buffer before tough match-ups against Victory and Auckland coming within the following three.

The performance of Oli Sail is also likely to have a big impact. He’s had a rough season and made a few errors that can likely be put down to trying to do too much when the line in front of his hasn’t been doing their job.

But in the last month that line has solidified, and Sail was a massive reason the Glory were able to take away a point from last weekend’s match against the Sky Blues.

Watch our full preview & predictions video below.