The 2019/20 A-League season gets underway next month and we’ve come up with three predictions for the upcoming campaign!
Grand Final winners - Sydney FC
Sydney FC have been part of the A-League Grand Final in three of the last five seasons and are the defending premiers having defeated Perth Glory in last season’s showpiece. They are joint-record holders for most premierships with Melbourne Victory on four and I expect the Sky Blues to be contending for another title in 2020. Sydney have added more strike power to their already lethal final third, with Kiwi flyer Kosta Barbarouses joining Adam Le Fondre and Milos Ninkovic up front.
Throw in a settled midfield and defence, and I’d be very surprise if Sydney weren’t challenging for more silverware this season. The A-League can throw up some unpredictable results here and there, but Sydney are a constant presence at the top of the competition and they’ll be right in the mix once more come the end of the season.
To make top six - Newcastle Jets
After putting together a surprise run to the Grand Final the previous season, Newcastle came crashing back down to earth last campaign as they missed out on the top six - but I thought they were extremely unlucky in a lot of games, and despite having more shots on goal than any other team, they couldn’t reach the heights of 2017/18. However, I think the Jets can return to finals football this season.
Ernie Merrick has brought in some solid recruits in former EPL star Wes Hoolahan, pacy Panamanian international Abdiel Arroyo and promising fullback Matt Millar, and with plenty of experience including the likes of Dimi Petratos, Jason Hoffman, Steven Urgarkovic, Nigel Boogaard and Nikolai Topor-Stanley, Newcastle have a team that can contend for the top six in my book.
Wooden spoon - Wellington Phoenix
Despite overcoming the odds to make the finals last season, Wellington appear likely to finish rock bottom with the wooden spoon this campaign. They’ve lost a lot of firepower for this season, including the electric Sarpreet Singh to Bayern Munich, and don’t seem to have made the signings necessary to be competitive.
Phoenix will need a bit of luck with their recruits, including former Man City squad member David Ball and Mexican midfielder Ulises Davila to surprise teams this season, but add in their off-field dramas and uncertain future as a club, this is looking like being a tough year for the Kiwi side.