It’s Unite Round in the A-Leagues and ahead of six Ninja A-League fixtures at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium this weekend, aleagues.com.au has everything you need to know about Round 4 of the 2024-25 season.
The Ninja A-League heads to Sydney for Unite Round with all six games of Round 4 scheduled at Nestrata Jubilee Stadium, with free entry for all fans heading to the Sydney venue as well as a Fan Zone and the Girls Unite Gala day all adding to the special feel around the weekend’s action.
The Ninja A-League Unite Round schedule is broken down into three double-headers on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Read on for a game-by-game preview of the Round 4 action and for all the information you need regarding Unite Round, the A-Leagues’ ultimate away day.
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UNITE ROUND ULTIMATE GUIDE: Schedule, what’s on, events, ticket details
Friday, 5.30pm (AEDT): Adelaide United v Wellington Phoenix
Nestrata Jubilee Stadium – Paramount+ / 10 Play
Could this be the season Adelaide United break back into the Ninja A-League Finals Series places?
It’s been a red-hot start from last season’s wooden-spooners, with back-to-back wins after a Round 1 loss firing Adrian Stenta’s side into third spot ahead of Unite Round – and the form of star striker Fiona Worts on return to the club has been a key reason for Adelaide’s early-season form.
Worts won the Julie Dolan Medal in 2022, with her 13 goals and four assists in 15 games coming in Adelaide’s surge to a third-place finish. But the Reds haven’t featured in the Finals Series since; Worts joined Sydney FC last season but after one campaign away from Adelaide the Englishwoman has returned to the club and has four goals to her name already in 2024-25.
Adelaide face a Wellington side currently without a point after three rounds. It’s been a challenging start to the season for Paul Temple’s side, who followed a 4-2 defeat to Western United in the opening weekend with two 1-0 defeats to Canberra and Newcastle.
Wellington will be without defender Rebecca Lake who has been ruled out for the remainder of the 2024-25 season. It was confirmed an injury suffered against Canberra in Round 2 resulted in a rupture of ligaments in her left foot.
Captain Annalee Longo is also unlikely to feature in Unite Round after a head injury suffered against Newcastle Jets in Round 3; Longo was taken to hospital after colliding with Jets defender Claudio Cicco but scans have since cleared Longo of any fracture of concussion though she still has severe bruising around her left eye.
READ MORE: Wellington Phoenix suffer ‘gut-wrenching’ setback but their captain is cleared of serious injury
Friday, 8.15pm (AEDT): Western Sydney Wanderers v Brisbane Roar
Netstrata Jubilee Stadium – Paramount+ / 10 Play
Brisbane Roar captain Tameka Yallop is set to break the club’s all-time Ninja A-League appearance record on Friday night as she leads her side into battle against Western Sydney Wanderers.
Yallop equalled Roar legend Clare Polkinghorne’s tally of 152 Ninja A-League appearances last weekend in a 3-0 win over Perth Glory; the 33-year-old was the star performer in Brisbane’s second consecutive win of the season, scoring twice to lift the Roar up to fourth spot and continue an encouraging start to the new campaign.
The in-form Roar take on a winless Wanderers outfit who earned a point in Round 1 against Newcastle Jets before back-to-back defeats against Sydney FC and Adelaide United.
Key to Western Sydney’s hopes of a result in Unite Round is quelling the danger of Yallop and fellow CommBank Matildas winger Sharn Freier in attack – but also winning the midfield battle as Alicia Woods and Momo Hayashi continue to form a formidable partnership in the centre of the park for the Roar.
Saturday, 2.15pm (AEDT): Central Coast Mariners v Melbourne Victory
Netstrata Jubilee Stadium – 10 BOLD / Paramount+ / 10 Play
Melbourne Victory star Emily Gielnik has been simply unstoppable through the first three rounds of the new season, bagging six goals to help her second spot on the Ninja A-League table. Can Central Coast Mariners stem the flow this weekend?
The Matildas forward scored a first-half hat-trick in her side’s 4-1 mauling of Western United in Round 3, celebrating her call-up to the international squad for four friendlies in November and December in style.
Led by Gielnik’s goals, Victory have looked extremely dangerous this season but a 3-2 loss to Adelaide in Round 2 showed Jeff Hopkins’ side are not without their weaknesses; Central Coast are fifth but their position on the table is deceptive. With one win and two draws on the board, the Mariners have played three of last season’s Finals Series entrants – Western United, Sydney FC and Melbourne City. They’ve beaten champions Sydney FC and drew to reigning premiers Melbourne City and look a solid defensive outfit with plenty of attacking threat, led by off-season recruit Brooke Nunn.
This Unite Round fixture will be broadcast on free-to-air TV via 10 BOLD and promises to be one of the games of the weekend between two of the most in-form sides in the league to date.
Saturday, 5pm (AEDT): Newcastle Jets v Western United
Netstrata Jubilee Stadium – Paramount+ / 10 Play
Newcastle Jets are knocking on the door of the top six after a 1-0 win over Wellington Phoenix inspired by captain Cass Davis’ incredible match-winner – now it’s all about chasing consistency for Ryan Campbell’s side as they play Western United in an Elimination Final rematch from 2023-24.
The Jets finished sixth last season but bundled third-placed Western out of the Finals Series in a surprise result; this time around, Newcastle stand on equal ground with Kat Smith’s Western as both teams head to Unite Round having both won, drawn and lost one of their first three games of the season to date.
Western are bruised from a hefty 4-1 defeat to Victory in Round 3 but will be hoping to regain captain Chloe Logarzo this weekend after the Matildas midfielder missed the Victory clash due to personal reasons.
Sunday, 1.30pm (AEDT): Canberra United v Perth Glory
Netstrata Jubilee Stadium – Paramount+ / 10 Play
There’s bound to be fireworks whenever these two old rivals meet.
Canberra United and Perth Glory have faced off 19 times in the Ninja A-League, and there’s been 78 goals scored between the two teams throughout that time. The last five meetings have thrown up a pair of 2-2 draws and three 3-2 results; get ready for entertainment when they face off once again in Unite Round on Sunday afternoon.
Canberra’s perfect start to the season came to an end last weekend, with back-to-back wins to start the season followed by a 2-0 loss to Adelaide. Attacking duo Michelle Heyman and Maja Markovski posed a significant attacking threat in Rounds 1 and 2 but were well marshalled by Adelaide’s defenders in the 2-0 defeat in Round 3.
But the two Canberra stars will be confident of reigniting their attacking combination against a Glory outfit that has conceded 10 goals in three games with a goal difference of -5. No other team has conceded more than six goals to start the season.
There could be hope for Glory, however, in the potential arrival of Matildas goalkeeper Casey Dumont at the club; A multi-sport athlete, Dumont signed for Glory in the off-season but could not link up with her new team until the conclusion of the AFLW.
Sunday, 4.15pm (AEDT): Sydney FC v Melbourne City
Netstrata Jubilee Stadium – Paramount+ / 10 Play
The Unite Round action wraps up on Sunday afternoon and what better way to do it than with a Grand Final rematch?
Melbourne City won the Premiership in 2023-24 but were stunned by Sydney FC in the Grand Final; the Sky Blues’ 1-0 win in the title decider sealed back-to-back Championships for Ante Juric’s side but their pursuit of a threepeat has been hindered by a slow start to the new campaign.
Sydney lost their first two games of the season but are back on track after a 1-0 win over Western Sydney in Round 3’s Sydney Derby; as the reigning champions look to continue building momentum, they’re faced with the biggest test of all in the form of current league-leaders City.
Michael Matricciani is in his first season as a Ninja A-League head coach but he couldn’t have asked for a better start to life as City boss with wins over Perth Glory and Melbourne Victory coming before a 2-2 draw with Central Coast Mariners in Round 3.
New signing Lourdes Bosch has two goals and two assists to her name already and is proving an immense threat on the wing for City.
