With just two rounds left to play in the 2024-25 Isuzu UTE A-League season, everything is still left to play for with the Premiership, top six spots, Golden Boot, AFC Champions League qualification and automatic Australia Cup spots on the line.
There are so many unanswered questions and so much still to play out in the Isuzu UTE A-League in an exciting finale to the 2024-25 season.
With the Finals Series on the horizon, this is the state of play across the competition.
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The Premiership
Auckland FC can win the Premiership this weekend as they play host to Perth Glory at Go Media Stadium in the penultimate round of the regular season.
With a six-point gap at the top of the table, Auckland need just one point from their last two games to confirm a Premiership title in the club’s inaugural Isuzu UTE A-League campaign.
Second-placed Melbourne City are the only team within touching distance of the Black Knights, but with two games to play, the Premiers Plate is all but certain to head across the ditch for the first time in Isuzu UTE A-League history.
City are six points behind Auckland and have a goal difference of +12 compared to Auckland’s +23; the Black Knights would have to lose their final two games against Perth and Western United to open the door for City to overtake them on the table – but Aurelio Vidmar’s side would need to register two big wins over Adelaide United and Sydney FC in order to make up the sizeable goal difference currently separating the two top-six sides.
City play Adelaide at home on Saturday night, and anything less than a win would confirm Auckland’s status as 2024-25 Premiers. Should City beat Adelaide on Saturday, Auckland would then have to respond with a draw or better against bottom-placed Perth to secure the Premiership.
Remaining fixtures – top two
Auckland FC: Perth Glory (H), Western United (A).
Melbourne City: Adelaide United (H), Sydney FC (H).
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AFC Champions League spot
There’s a spot in the lucrative AFC Champions League Elite for 2025-26 up for grabs this season – and it will go to the highest-finishing Australian side at the end of the regular season.
With Auckland FC all-but certain to wrap up the Premiership, attention turns to which Australian-based side can finish second to book their place in the ACL Elite.
Melbourne City hold a three-point lead over Western United and are in the box seat to secure second place with two games left to play. However, Western United currently boast a better goal difference than City, which will be the separating factor if the two sides finish level on points by the end of the season.
In 2024-25, just qualifying for the AFC Champions League Elite netted teams USD$800k (AUD $1.27m).
Western Sydney Wanderers are fourth and flying toward the end of the season off the back of a 10-game unbeaten run. Four points behind City, Alen Stajcic’s side cannot be ruled out as surprise second-place finishers, but would need both Western United and City to drop points before the season’s end.
Fifth-placed Melbourne Victory are the last team mathematically in with a shout of finishing second, although their five-point gap to City means multiple results must go their way to jump from fifth to second on the table and clinch the ACL Elite spot.
Remaining fixtures in fight for ACL Elite qualification
Melbourne City: Adelaide United (H), Sydney FC (H).
Western United: Sydney FC (H), Auckland FC (H).
Western Sydney Wanderers: Newcastle Jets (A), Macarthur Bulls (A).
Melbourne Victory: Macarthur Bulls (A), Newcastle Jets (H).
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Top six race
After 27 rounds, just two teams outside the top six remain in the hunt for a place in the Finals Series: Adelaide United and Macarthur Bulls.
Recent results have set up an intriguing three-way battle for sixth spot; Sydney FC have made their move off the back of two draws and one win in their last three games while Adelaide United have faltered to see their place in the top six go up in smoke.
Sydney now hold sixth position, level on 37 points with the Reds after Adelaide failed to beat Brisbane Roar in a 1-1 draw on Tuesday night.
Macarthur, meanwhile, sit four points behind both Sydney and Adelaide with two games to play.
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Fifth-placed Melbourne Victory, meanwhile, could be replaced in the top six by either Adelaide or Macarthur by the end of the season if they lose their final two games.
The Bulls face Victory on Friday night in what is essentially a six-pointer for both sides; should Victory win, they’ll move nine points clear of Macarthur. Should they lose, the Bulls will move to within three points of them with a game to play, while boasting a superior goal difference.
Sydney FC face two top four sides to finish the season in Western United and Melbourne City, while Adelaide have just one game left to play against City this weekend.
Remaining fixtures in race for fifth & sixth
Melbourne Victory: Macarthur Bulls (A), Newcastle Jets (H).
Sydney FC: Western United (A), Melbourne City (A).
Adelaide United: Melbourne City (A)
Macarthur Bulls: Melbourne Victory (H), Western Sydney Wanderers (A)
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The fight for automatic Australia Cup spots
Auckland FC’s introduction to the Isuzu UTE A-League this season means there are 13 clubs in the competition for the first time in its 20-year history. As a result, there has been a shake-up of the qualification process for the 2025 Hahn Australia Cup.
In the 12-team format, the top eight sides received automatic qualification to the Round of 32 of the Australia Cup, with the bottom four sides progressing to play-offs for the league’s remaining two spots in the competition.
The play-offs used to pit 9th against 12th and 10th against 11th to decide which two Isuzu UTE A-League teams joined the top eight finishers in the Australia Cup.
With one extra club to factor into the equation in 2025, the Isuzu UTE A-League has received an 11th allocation for the Australia Cup.
Now, the nine highest finishers on the Isuzu UTE A-League table will qualify automatically for the Australia Cup, with play-offs taking place between 10th and 13th on the table, and 11th and 12th on the table.
Three of the bottom-four sides are already locked in, with reigning Champions Central Coast Mariners, Brisbane Roar and Perth Glory all confirmed to head to the playoffs in Darwin.
The Mariners are 10th and trail Newcastle Jets by three points but have just one game to play, and a goal difference of -21 compared to Newcastle’s 0.
The only team capable of jumping out of the bottom four and up to ninth is Wellington Phoenix; trailing Newcastle by five points with two games to play, the Jets would need to win their final two games and hope Newcastle lose both of their remaining games to jump to 30 points and ahead of Newcastle by one.
The Jets could draw one of their remaining games to leave Wellington in with a chance of edging them on goal difference- but Wellington would need to overtun a 13-goal difference to make that unlikely scenario a reality.
Remaining fixtures in battle for ninth
Newcastle Jets: Western Sydney Wanderers (H), Melbourne Victory (A)
Wellington Phoenix: Brisbane Roar (A), Perth Glory (H)
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
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Golden Boot
A quartet of young Australian forwards continue to lead the race to the Golden Boot with two games to play in the regular season.
20-year-old Sydney FC sensation Adrian Segecic has an equal-share of top spot on the Golden Boot leaderboard with Adelaide United’s Archie Goodwin; the two 20-year-old attackers have 13 scored goals apiece.
23-year-olds Nicolas Milanovic and Noah Botic sit second and third on the table with 12 and 11 goals respectively; then, there’s three experienced forwards in equal fourth.
Hiroshi Ibusuki, Patryk Klimala and Kosta Barbarouses have all scored 10 goals and are within reach of the top of the scoring charts, but need to pick up the pace and hope the leaders stumble in their pursuit of the Golden Boot.
=1st: Adrian Segecic, Sydney FC: 13 goals
=1st: Archie Goodwin, Adelaide United: 13 goals
2nd: Nicolas Milanovic, Western Sydney Wanderers: 12 goals
3rd: Noah Botic, Western United: 11 goals
=4th: Hiroshi Ibusuki, Western United: 10 goals
=4th: Patryk Klimala, Sydney FC: 10 goals
=4th: Kosta Barbarouses, Wellington Phoenix: 10 goals
No player under the age of 23 had ever won the Golden Boot outright in Isuzu UTE A-League history before a 20-year-old Adam Taggart achieved the feat in 2014; no player has done so since.
Segecic, Goodwin, Milanovic and Botic are all capable of joining Taggart in that exclusive club and with just two goals separating the top four, don’t be surprised if this season’s Golden Boot is shared among at least two of the young Australian attackers.
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