- Adelaide United finished one place above Auckland FC in second with 43 points to Auckland’s 42 in the 2025-26 A-League regular season.
- Adelaide United are unbeaten in their last five competitive matches (W3, D2) and Auckland have a recent A-League run of D4, L1.
- The two clubs have drawn three of their last four matches, across all competitions, with 1-1 and 2-2 score-lines.
Tight, open, one-sided? Which way will this fixture go?
These two A-League teams, who finished second and third in the 26-match regular season in 2025-26, will meet in the second leg of their playoff clash on Friday in an attempt to reach the A-League Grand Final and secure a place in the next edition of the Asian Champions League.
Adelaide United host the playoff with home advantage after securing two vital wins in the final two rounds to finish one point above Auckland in second spot. The Reds, playing with confidence and a high-tempo, front-foot style, drew 1 - 1 in the first leg and closed the regular season with a dramatic 98th-minute winner at Melbourne City.
Auckland FC, on the other hand, have been solid, but unspectacular in recent weeks, drawing four of their last six A-League matches and losing once. Steve Corica’s side are a compact, disciplined outfit, who use the physical duel to win the ball back and create chances on the counter-attack.
Reds’ home advantage and attacking style should see them through
Adelaide are slight favourites at 2.39, with Auckland FC coming in at 2.95 and the draw at 3.58. Given the 1-1 draw of the first leg and a capacity crowd expected at Coopers Stadium, the home side should be favourites to nick this one and we’re happy to take the Adelaide United & Over 2.5 goals market at 1.67.
Adelaide’s home ground is a fortress for the Reds and Airton Andrioli’s players seem to have an appetite for grinding out results in pressure situations. The visitors will make it tough, but the A-League team of 2025-26 have an attacking edge to them that should eventually be enough to get the win.
Andrioli’s side are a front-foot, possession-based team with the ability to press aggressively and use the wide areas to create space. They are very good at pinning teams back and playing with tempo, but do leave themselves open at the back at times and will be vulnerable to the counter-attack.
Luka Jovanović a big-game player with late-season knack
Bart Vriends is a solid defender at the heart of their defence and will need to keep Lachlan Brook, Auckland’s primary attacking outlet, in check on Friday. He was on the scoresheet in Auckland’s 2 - 1 win over Adelaide in their last meeting and is one of their biggest goal threats.
Auckland will miss leading striker Guillermo May through injury for the rest of the campaign, so it will be down to Rogerson and the midfield to get on the end of set-pieces and transitions. Michael Woud, the goalkeeper, will need to be at his best again after keeping the visitors out in a gritty display in the first leg in Auckland. Captain Archie Goodwin is a big-game leader for Adelaide and is one of the team’s best players, while Luka Jovanović has a knack of grabbing the game by the scruff of the neck, as he did with his 98th-minute winner against Melbourne City last month.
