The Scout: A-League Season Preview

Posted on November 17, 2021November 17, 2021 | Posted by The Scout

A-League Winner

Melbourne City @ $4*

Melbourne City enter the 2021/2022 A-League season as the reigning champions and will be looking to defend their title and go back-to-back.

City have had little movement in their squad and retained nearly every key contributor to last year’s premiership. Unfortunately, Melbourne City will bid farewell to Craig Noone and Adrian Luna however they have brought in two big names with Mathew Leckie and Manuel Pucciarelli joining the squad.

Socceroos captain Matthew Leckie is a massive addition to the defending champions who will add more pace into the City frontline. The partnership potential of Leckie and Jamie Maclaren looks ominous as Melbourne City possess two of the best strikers in Australia, expect this duo to do plenty of damage this season.

Winning back-to-back A-League titles is a huge and rare achievement however Melbourne City manager Patrick Kisnorbo will be full of confidence as the offseason saw his team not only stay together but improve. The signing of Matthew Leckie will go down as the signing of the season and his partnership alongside Jamie Maclaren will be instrumental in winning back to back titles.

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Top GoalScorer

Jamie Maclaren @ $3.50*

Jamie Maclaren is once again favourite to take out the honours of top goal scorer in the A League and rightfully so. The Melbourne City striker has been the league’s top goal scorer in back to back seasons and will be looking to win his third title in a row.

No, A League player has claimed three Golden Boots in a row, but it is looking likely that Maclaren will be the first. Last season Maclaren averaged just over one goal per game, finding 25 goals in 24 appearances which included a memorable five goal haul against Melbourne Victory.

Maclaren will be partnered with Socceroo’s teammate Matthew Leckie in this upcoming season which could potentially assist in creating even more goals. Leckie and Maclaren’s partnership will play a key role in Melbourne City’s strategy moving forward and the experience of the Socceroos captain will be invaluable and will create even more space for Maclaren to strike.

Melbourne City will be one of the best teams during the season and will start right where they left off from last season. They will have plenty of games where they completely dominate their opponent which will see Maclaren have plenty of opportunities to score plenty of goals. The addition of Matthew Leckie will only assist Maclaren and his hunt to score 30 goals this season is certainly a reality.

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To Finish In Bottom Place

Newcastle Jets @ $5*

It was a catastrophic campaign last season for the Newcastle Jets who finished 11^th, only two points clear of the wooden spoon side, Melbourne Victory.

Newly appointed coach Arthur Papas will be looking to shake things up and attempt to drive the Jets out of their slump in form. Newcastle has missed finals for three consecutive seasons, but a revamped roster could be their solution to getting back to winning ways.

The Jets have brought in new players all over the park which include the likes of Matt Jurman, Dane Ingham, and Jordan Elsey. Whilst the new signings are an attempt to revitalize the team the lack of chemistry creates plenty of chances of things going wrong. Inexperience and clashing playing styles will be a big concern early in the season.

Unfortunately for the Jets they have lost striker Roy O’Donovan who leaves for National Premier Leagues NSW club Sydney Olympia. This is a big concern for the Jets as O’Donovan was the clubs leading goal scorer last season. Goal scoring was already a struggle for the Jets who scored the lowest goals (24) in the A-League last season.

With one of the youngest lists in the league, the Jets will be hoping their raft of young upcoming talent will band together and perform. Unfortunately, this is a rare occurrence and having lost their leading goal scorer the Jets will once again struggle to score goals. Inevitably this lack of goal scoring will cost the Jets plenty of matches and finishing at the bottom of the ladder will be a surprise to no one.

*Odds correct as at 12pm, 17th November 2021.

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