Melbourne City vs Wellington Phoenix Prediction and Betting Tips | August 27th 2023

Melbourne City will square off against Wellington Phoenix at the Jack Edwards Reserve in the 2023 Australia Cup round of 16 on Sunday.

City overcame the Oakleigh Cannons 3-2 in the round of 32, with Tolgay Arslan bagging a second-half brace from the penalty spot and Alessandro Lopane scoring the winner in the fourth minute of injury time.

Phoenix booked their spot in the last 16 with a 2-1 win over Peninsula Power. Nicholas Pennington broke the deadlock in the 43rd minute but Peninsula were back in the game via Lewis Greenwood's 71st-minute equalizer. The game went into extra time and Joshua Rudland bagged the winning goal in the 119th minute.

City are two-time finalists in the competition, winning it in 2016 and finishing runners-up in 2019. Phoenix have never made it to the final.

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Melbourne City vs Wellington Phoenix Head-to-Head and Key Numbers

• The two sides have crossed paths 39 times in all competitions since 2010. City have the upper hand in the head-to-head record at the moment with 18 wins. Phoenix are not far behind with 13 wins while just eight games have ended in draws.
• Interestingly, they will meet in the Australia Cup for the third season in a row. Phoenix have recorded wins in the last two seasons, including a 2-1 win in the second round last year.
• City avenged their cup loss in the A-League, recording wins in both the home and away games against Phoenix.
• Eight of the last nine meetings between the two teams have produced over 2.5 goals, with a clean sheet being kept in just one match in that period. (Melbourne City, 6-0 in 2022).
• City played a closed-door friendly against Western United on Wednesday, recording a 1-0 win. Wellington Phoenix played Wellington Olympic in a similar friendly on Sunday, recording a 2-0 win.

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Melbourne City vs Wellington Phoenix Prediction

City have suffered just one defeat in their last six meetings against Wellington. Interestingly, their last two defeats against the New Zealand-based team have come in the Australia Cup. City have scored 10 goals in their last four meetings against Phoenix while conceding six times, so will look to continue that form in this match.

The Nix have reached the quarter-finals in the last two editions of the competition and in both editions, they faced and defeated City. They will, thus, be confident of a positive outcome.

Nonetheless, City defeated Phoenix 7-2 on aggregate in the A-League last season and should be able to eke out a narrow win.

Prediction: Melbourne City 2-1 Wellington Phoenix

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Melbourne City vs Wellington Phoenix Betting Tips

Tip 1: Result - Melbourne City to win

Tip 2: Goals - Over/Under 2.5 Goals - Over 2.5 goals

Tip 3: At least a goal to be scored in the second half - Yes

Tip 4: Mathew Leckie to score or assist any time - Yes