There are just three rounds remaining in the 2024-25 Isuzu UTE A-League season and everything is still to play for.
Not only is the Premier’s Plate still up for grabs and a spot in the AFC Champions League for the highest finishing Australian side but a handful of clubs are also still battling it out to secure a spot in the finals as well.
Throw in the fact that there’s also automatic Australia Cup spots on the line and a Golden Boot to be won, it all makes for a fascinating end to the regular season.
So as we count down to the end of what’s been another breathtaking 2024-25 Isuzu UTE A-League regular season, this is the state of play.
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The Premiership
Despite having their lead of seven points whittled down in recent weeks, as it stands, Auckland FC remain on course to clinch silverware in their first season in existence.
Now four points ahead of Melbourne City heading into Round 27 of the Isuzu UTE A-League, that lead will be reduced to three on Thursday night should Western United bounce back from their recent loss and defeat Brisbane Roar.
However, while the Black Knights would no doubt love to be playing before the chasing pack take to the field this weekend, Auckland know that regardless of results elsewhere, a win over Melbourne Victory in Round 27 would see them inch ever closer to clinching the Premier’s Plate.
Conversely, should results go against Steve Corica’s side this weekend then their lead at the top could be cut to just one point with two games left to play and it’s Melbourne City who are positioning themselves as the main threat to top spot.
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Currently sat second, City take to the field on Saturday night at CommBank Stadium as they face a Wanderers side unbeaten in nine matches and firmly entrenched inside the top six.
Far from out of the mix, Western are currently four points behind the league leaders but should they also win this weekend and Auckland lose then the prospect of a final round showdown between Western United and Auckland FC at Ironbark Fields becomes even tastier.
While unlikely, it’s also worth noting that if both Melbourne City and Western United lose this weekend, and Auckland win, then Steve Corica’s side would be crowned Premiers.
Auckland FC: Melbourne Victory (A), Perth Glory (H), Western United (A).
Melbourne City: Western Sydney Wanderers (A), Adelaide United (H), Sydney FC (H).
Western United: Brisbane Roar (A), Sydney FC (H), Auckland FC (H).
The current top six heading into Round 27
AFC Champions League spot
Aside from the obvious lure of silverware, there is another carrot dangling in front of the Isuzu UTE A-League’s highest finishing Australia side this season; a spot in the AFC Champions League Elite for season 2025-26.
Should an Australian team overhaul Auckland FC at the top and win the Premiership then they will receive the double bonus of also securing a spot alongside Asian football’s powerhouses in the ACL Elite.
However, should Auckland FC clinch the Premier’s Plate then whoever finishes second will then take up that spot instead given the Black Knights are part of the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), rendering them ineligible to compete in AFC club competition.
Realistically though the door has been left ajar for two more sides currently in the top six who still believe they could nab a potentially lucrative second place.
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With Melbourne City (2nd) in pole position as it stands and Western United (3rd) hot on their heels, a quick glance at the table will show you Alen Stajcic’s Western Sydney Wanderers currently sat in fourth place.
A 2-0 win over Western United last weekend saw the Wanderers end the round in fourth and as a result, move to within two points of John Aloisi’s men and four behind second-placed Melbourne City.
Level with the Wanderers on 39 points and sat in fifth due to an inferior goal difference are Melbourne Victory.
In 2024-25, just qualifying for the AFC Champions League Elite netted teams USD$800k (AUD $1.27m).
Auckland FC: Melbourne Victory (A), Perth Glory (H), Western United (A).
Melbourne City: Western Sydney Wanderers (A), Adelaide United (H), Sydney FC (H).
Western United: Brisbane Roar (A), Sydney FC (H), Auckland FC (H).
Western Sydney Wanderers: Melbourne City (H), Newcastle Jets (A), Macarthur Bulls (A).
Melbourne Victory: Auckland FC (H), Macarthur Bulls (A), Newcastle Jets (H).
Top six race
While Western Sydney Wanderers and Melbourne Victory aren’t mathematically locked in to play finals football, quite a bit would need to go wrong in order for them to miss out.
Currently sat on 39 points each with three games left to play, a win for both sides this weekend coupled with Sydney FC and Adelaide United not picking up maximum points would guarantee them both a place in the Finals Series.
So with the Wanderers and Victory looking highly likely to be playing finals football come the end of the regular season there’s a good chance there will only be one spot left in the current top six.
Currently occupying that all-important sixth spot on the ladder is Sydney FC.
Ufuk Talay’s side blew a two-goal lead against leaders Auckland FC last time out and now sit five points behind fifth-placed Melbourne Victory.
Sydney FC play their final home game of the season this weekend when they take on Newcastle Jets (9th) before two daunting away trips to face Western United and Melbourne City to round out their regular season.
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A point behind the Sky Blues in seventh are Adelaide United and while they are still very much in the race to make finals, Carl Veart’s side are in a horrible run of form which has seen them lose their last four matches in a row and they’re now eight games without a win.
The third and final team potentially battling to seal what could be just one remaining spot in the finals are Macarthur Bulls.
Occupying eighth on the ladder, the Bulls are only two points behind sixth-placed Sydney FC and face a beleaguered Central Coast Mariners side this weekend who have most recently been beaten 6-0 in the F3 Derby.
Sydney FC: Newcastle Jets (H), Western United (A), Melbourne City (A)
Adelaide United: Wellington Phoenix (H), Brisbane Roar (A – rearranged midweek fixture) Melbourne City (A) – *The Reds have the Bye on the final weekend of the season.
Macarthur Bulls: Central Coast Mariners (A), Melbourne Victory (H), Western Sydney Wanderers (H)
The fight for automatic Australia Cup spots
With the Isuzu UTE A-League now consisting of 13 clubs following the inclusion of table-toppers Auckland FC, the qualification process for the 2025 Hahn Australia Cup will look a little different ahead of next season.
Last season the 12 Isuzu UTE A-League clubs were competing for 10 spots in the Australia Cup with the top eight finishers in the regular season all guaranteeing themselves a place in the Round of 32.
As for the teams who finished in the league’s bottom four places, they then contested play-offs to determine who would get the remaining two spots in the competition: Ninth would face 12th and 10th would play 11th.
Following the introduction of Auckland FC which takes the league’s count to 13 sides, the Isuzu UTE A-League will now receive 11 places in the 2025 edition of the Australia Cup and the play-offs will look a little different too, specifically as to when they are played.
The remaining 21 slots in the Round of 32 are allocated to member federations around Australia as follows:
- Football Victoria: Four slots
- Football New South Wales: Four slots
- Football Queensland: Four slots
- Football South Australia: Two slots
- Football Northern New South Wales: Two slots
- Football West: Two slots
- Football Tasmania: One slot
- Football Northern Territory: One slot
- Capital Football: One slot
Golden Boot
The race to secure the Golden Boot is as tight as ever this season and with three rounds left to play the standings are being dominated by young Aussie talent.
Ahead of Round 27 in the Isuzu UTE A-League there are currently four young Aussies competing for the right to be named Golden Boot winner in 2024-25:
1st: Adrian Segecic – Sydney FC: 12 goals, 20 years old
=1st: Archie Goodwin – Adelaide United: 12 goals, 20 years old
3rd: Nicolas Milanovic – Western Sydney Wanderers: 11 goals, 23 years old
=3rd: Noah Botic – Western United: 11 goals, 23 years old.
5th: Patryk Klimala – Sydney FC, 10 goals, 26 years old
Despite being renowned as a super sub, Sydney FC young gun Adrian Segecic has stormed to the top of the Golden Boot standings alongside Adelaide’s Archie Goodwin.
Two excellent strikes against Auckland FC lat time out took his tally to 12 for the season and the attacking midfielder has now matched Goodwin’s tally for the season with just three games left to play.
“I don’t think we’ve seen this for a long time in Australian football,” retired Socceroo Tommy Oar said on Total A-Leagues.
“All young players in those positions kind of breaking through. And I think the good thing is, it’s not only one or two, but there’s because there’s so many of them, they’re kind of pushing each other, egging each other on.
“They all want to get the Golden Boot. They all want to be the next big thing and get into the Socceroos.
“So, you know, having that competition, even though they’re not in the same they’re not teammates, per se, but potentially in the future, teammates having that kind of drive to want to be the best.”
While Segecic has played fewer minutes than Goodwin this season, the award will be split come the end of the campaign if players finish the season having scored the same amount of goals.
Now sat third on the ladder is Western Sydney Wanderers attacker Nicolas Milanovic who is having a career-best season having scored 11 goals and he’s level with Western United sharpshooter Noah Botic.
Hot on the heels of all the above though is Sydney FC striker Patruk Klimala who, at 26, is seemingly the elder statesmen of the group but will back himself to overtake them all given the service he can call upon at the Sky Blues which includes the likes of Douglas Costa, Joe Lolley and the aforementioned Segecic.
Should one of Botic, Goodwin, Milanovic or Segecic win the Golden Boot outright, they would become the first Under-23 player since Adam Taggart in 2013-14 to claim an outright Golden Boot victory in Isuzu UTE A-League history.
Behind the top five contenders for the Golden Boot sit a long list of players from a variety of clubs with Newcastle’s Eli Adams, Western’s Hiroshi Ibusuki, Sydney FC’s Joe Lolley, Phoenix veteran Kosta Barbarouses and Macarthur winger Marin Jakolis all finding the back of the net nine times so far this season.
