It was a poor week of tipping right across the board in Round 21. Neither The Roar of the crowd or any panel member could muster better than two correct selections and the week ahead looks likely to produce an even more humbling result.

Friday night’s blockbuster between the Wanderers and Reds in Sydney promises to be enthralling, Melbourne Victory and Brisbane Roar are now in must-win territory and one of Perth Glory and Macarthur FC will keep their hopes alive should they take all three points in the west.

Just five weeks remain and a late tipping charge is required, with the gap between the top three and the battlers widening. Good luck with your selections for the round and be sure to enter them in the sheet below to have a say.

Here is how the panel sees all the Round 22 action playing out.

Mike Tuckerman

Western Sydney, Wellington, Central Coast, Draw, Draw, City.

The A-League returns with the match of the round in Parramatta in front of what is hopefully a decent crowd at CommBank Stadium. The Wanderers go into this game on the back of their most impressive derby result in years, and they’ll fancy their chances of continuing their good form against the visiting Reds. Adelaide are on an even better run of form and are unbeaten in their last 10. But with Craig Goodwin coming back from a tiring international break, I’m tipping its Western Sydney who claim a statement win.

(Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)

Wellington Phoenix came crashing back to earth with a 5-1 mauling at the hands of Adelaide United before the break. They’ve got much more to play for than the visiting Victory, however, and they’ve taken 10 points from a possible 12 from their last four home games. Melbourne Victory are a better side than their bottom-of-the-ladder position suggests, but things just haven’t clicked under Tony Popovic this season. The visitors will pose a threat, but it should be the Phoenix who register all three points.

‘Es wird eng werden’ for the Central Coast Mariners, as the Germans like to say. They’ve faltered of late and never really looked like they were at the races in their most recent 2-0 loss to bottom club Melbourne Victory. Nick Montgomery will hope for a turnaround in fortunes against a hot-and-cold Brisbane Roar, whom the Mariners beat 2-1 in their most recent clash in Redcliffe. Nick Green has made the Roar tough to beat under his watch, but the Gosford side simply have too much to play for in this one.

Sydney FC will need to regroup, and fast, after Western Sydney Wanderers dished out a 4-0 humiliation in the Sydney derby. Unfortunately for the Sky Blues, they simply lack the quality to dominate teams in the top half, and they’ve looked even more disjointed with Diego Caballo shoehorned into an attacking role. They’ll hope Adam Le Fondre is fit enough to return, especially with Robert Mak in Europe during the week, but it’s hard to see how two fairly mediocre sides don’t cancel each other out at Allianz Stadium.

Perth Glory are finally back at HBF Park, although weirdly enough, they may soon come to miss the home comforts of Macedonia Park. Glory recorded a morale-boosting 1-0 win over Western Sydney on their return to their long-term home ground, and coach Ruben Zadkovich won’t necessarily fear the visit of Macarthur. Both of these sides are still clinging to faint hopes of finals football and the Bulls held Melbourne City to a 1-1 draw before the break. But they don’t travel well, and will return home with nothing.

There’s been a marked dip in form for premiership hopefuls Melbourne City in recent weeks, and they didn’t look too impressive in that 1-1 draw with Macarthur in Campbelltown. Rado Vidosic will be alarmed with how many soft goals his team have started to concede and they’ll need to tighten up against a tricky looking Newcastle. The Novocastrians conceded an equaliser deep into stoppage time against Perth Glory last time out, and they’re unlikely to have the steel to match it with moneybags City.

Stuart Thomas

Adelaide, Wellington, Central Coast, United, Perth, City

I’m not sure the week break is going to have a positive impact on the tipping. Frankly, it looks a near impossible round to predict. Adelaide will beat Western Sydney on Friday night in a low scoring contest. Just the lone goal to split them.
Wellington can kill of Victory’s season with a win and should do so at the Cake Tin, whilst Central Coast simply have to beat Brisbane at home, lest their season starts to look very shaky with a month remaining. How Sydney FC responds after the derby disgrace will be interesting, Western United could be ready to pounce in this one and may well take the points.

It will be wild in the west when the Glory face Macarthur, both teams still hoping for the top six and a cagey match likely. Adam Taggart to score and the Glory to get the win. Melbourne City look far from the dominant team at the moment, yet Newcastle are inconsistent. Surely the men in blue put up a compelling performance and remain comfortably top?

Blayne Treadgold

TBC

Andrew Prentice

Adelaide, Wellington, Central Coast, Sydney, Perth, City

If you’re not looking forward to the opening game, check you have a pulse. Any repeat of the 4-4 thriller these sides played out 5 rounds ago will do me. The Reds have scored 18 goals since that game and have gone 11 games unbeaten. The Wanderers haven’t been nearly as consistent but when they’re “on,” they’re irresistible – just ask a shell-shocked Sydney FC. Brandon Borello and Craig Goodwin are the two form players of the competition and it’s ironic they combined for the Socceroos goal on Tuesday night against Ecuador. Pitted against each other after a week in camp together could be a case of “you bring the fuse, I’ll bring the dynamite”. Match of the round, I hope the Wanderers fans pack the stadium.

The Phoenix were on the end of a lop-sided 5-1 loss last start to the rampant Reds but it doesn’t really tell the story of that game. The Victory surprised everyone by remembering their pedigree and upsetting the Mariners. However, they have been as consistent as a collapsed souffle all season. Oskar Zawada was a notable absence for the Phoenix in Adelaide and his likely return after the birth of he and his wife’s child will no doubt correct some of the wayward marksmanship from the Hindmarsh debacle.

The Roar once had a curse over the Mariners but those days have gone. That said, they did stop Western United’s unlikely climb into the top six with their Round 21 win. The Mariners continued their hate affair with AAMI Park in their head-scratching loss to the Victory. They’re back in front of the sauce bottles on Saturday with most of their suspended defenders available again. Jason Cummings likes the air around Brisbane Waters and may be the difference against a Roar team who are still the worst attacking side in the league.

(Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)

The Sky Blues have only won twice at the new SFS all season which is almost enough to have their supporters dreaming fondly of Kogarah. Okay, maybe not…A loss here will see them tumble out of the top six at the expense of their opponents. Western’s revival hit a brick wall at Dolphin Stadium which has no doubt changed the thinking for this game. There’s a sense that John Aloisi’s men were best when flying underneath the radar. They can’t do that now, semi-final football is a real possibility.

For reasons that escape me, Perth are back at Macedonia Park for this game, having covered themselves in…come on, you can see this coming from a mile away…GLORY on their return to HBF Park three weeks ago. Macarthur came close to rolling Melbourne City in Round 21 which continues their mood-swinging form guide of a good performance every second week. Not sure if the international break disrupts or redresses the balance for them, but Perth and Macedonia Park are a wicked combo.

Arthur Papas cut a disconsolate figure as he watched his team concede a 97th minute equaliser to Perth in Round 21. Those two dropped points would have had them equal sixth, only out of the play-off places on goal difference. Now they face a trip to the premiers-in-waiting, whose form, it must be said, hasn’t been as “premier-like” in the last five weeks. Jamie Maclaren has had the chance to recover from a toe injury and his goal drought of three games seems like a veritable Great Sandy Desert of barren returns in comparison to his usual bounty. Papas may have more to contemplate than injury-time equalisers when this is done.

Texi Smith

Western Sydney, Wellington, Brisbane, Sydney, Perth, City

Friday night back at CommBank Stadium, Adelaide United in town, the first game back since we saw the cream of our A-League in action for the Socceroos, and this one is mouth-watering. Coming off enormous wins, both teams will be affected by the week off, and the Wanderers will be all over their opponents like a rash. Amor Layouni to continue his streak and have the home team flying early on, and the visitors will be punch-drunk at half time. A dramatic equaliser just as the natives are getting restless at still being only a goal ahead changes the game to set up a grandstand finish, and Milos Ninkovic will swoop to roll home a winner on the rebound to give Western Sydney Wanderers a vital win.

Phoenix are back at their spiritual home against a Melbourne Victory side who were victorious against Mariners last time out, but still far from convincing. With Fernando Romero suspended, Victory will again need to rely on Bruno Fornaroli to provide the spark, but he will be isolated in attack while Wellington pummel the Victory goal. After 45 minutes of frustration and heroics from Paul Izzo, the home team will cruise to the win in the second half, Bozhidar Kraev scoring twice and setting up a third for Kosta Barbarouses. A timely win to erase the pain of their trouncing against Adelaide.

Central Coast Mariners didn’t turn up in Melbourne two weeks ago and were well beaten by the basement club. Expectation is high for the Mariners at home these days, but they will find Brisbane Roar in a mischievous mood, their team of young stars starting to make people sit up and notice. Stefan Scepovic is due a goal, and the tricky feet of Jez Lofthouse and Henry Hore are more than capable of upsetting the usually solid Mariners back line. Sam Silvera will be at his best for the home side as they give the Roar defence a torrid time. However, a momentary lapse of concentration will see Rahmat Akbari milk a soft penalty that Jay O’Shea converts in front of the sauce bottles to give Brisbane a thoroughly deserved win against all odds.

If Sydney FC still harbour aspirations of a finals berth, this is a must win against Western United. With the main event in this double-header being the women’s game beforehand, the good vibes will continue into the second game, and the return of Max Burgess will give Sydney FC a massive lift. Forever susceptible though to a swift break, man mountain Tongo Doumbia will smash Western United into the lead on the rebound after a forward raid by Lachie Wales. Paddy Wood will rediscover his touch and deliver a marvellous finish on the run to equalise before the break, and in the siege just after half-time, Joe Lolley will connect beautifully with a Paulo Retre cross to almost burst the net for 2-1. Try as they might, the creaking Sydney FC defence will fail to yield an equalising goal for the visitors, and a slender victory will keep Sydney FC in the hunt, however underserved it may be.

Back at Macedonia Park, Perth can power back into contention for sixth spot with the visit of Macarthur FC. The never-say-die attitude of the Glory was on show last time out in Newcastle, and backed by a raucous crowd, they will power to a routine victory against the Bulls. Daniel De Silva’s shot off the post and Jason Romero’s point-blank miss will typify the visitors’ luck, and it will be Keegan Jelacic who shows them all how to finish, side-footing an outrageous low shot into the corner of Filip Kurto’s goal through a crowd of players for the only goal of the game.

Melbourne City return to action on Sunday with the visit of Newcastle Jets, and the league-leaders with their oversupply of Socceroos will be in menacing form. Once Valon Berisha has smashed home a deflected shot on 10 minutes, there will only be one winner. Manabu Saito will at least show some sparkle for an otherwise flat Jets, and it will be up to the loaded City attack to convert the shed-load of chances created throughout the 90 minutes. It will be no surprise when Jets finally succumb to the pressure, conceding another four goals in the last ten, one of them an incredible shot from fifty yards from Marco Tilio. This will be vintage City, reminding their rivals just how far ahead of the pack they are in terms of firepower.