- Hills United won 3-2 in March 2025 and 4-3 in their most recent NSW League One meeting with Dulwich Hill
- Hills United have scored at least twice in their two most recent competitive games against Dulwich Hill
- Hills United won 5-2 against Canterbury Bankstown and 5-0 against Hakoah at the end of 2025
Hills United can hold the edge in stylish showdown
Two very different football teams will battle for early-season momentum when Hills United FC host Dulwich Hill F.C. on Saturday in the New South Wales League 1 2026. Gary van Egmond’s side play a high-tempo, attacking game that involves relentless pressing and wide channels to get men in behind in transition.
Dulwich Hill are more of a pragmatic side, with Tony Valavanis getting the most out of a compact, hard-working group that sits deep and creates chances from set-pieces or well-worked moves out of the back.
Both approaches can be profitable and both are likely to be on display in Sydney, where the odds suggest Hills United are likely to edge a close match. Backing the hosts at 1.94 looks like the obvious play, but Dulwich Hill, 3.18, are well worth a support on the double chance given they should be a tough nut to crack.
Dimi Petratos is Hills’ danger man
Their last competitive meeting took place in March 2025 in the Australia Cup preliminary and Hills United won 3-2, while they also won the last NSW League One meeting between the clubs 4-3. Hills are favourites to claim the spoils again and their attacking depth makes it hard to oppose them, despite the fact that Dulwich Hill are more of a defensive unit and look capable of keeping the game close.
Dimi Petratos is the danger man in Hills’ side, someone that can score goals and is always a danger from set-pieces, while Marcus Lal can be deadly in transition and is the sort of player that can open the scoring and set the tone for a game.
Dulwich Hill have a similar type of goal-getter in Mark Younes, a big man who has bagged hat-tricks in recent years and always presents a threat for the ball in the air.
Hills can win in high-scoring clash
Hills United showed plenty of attacking prowess at the back end of 2025, but their defensive naivety was shown up when they lost 2-3 to Blacktown Spartans. Younes can get Dulwich Hill goals but they finished 2025’s season with five games without a win and conceded 11 goals in their final two, so Hills can nick it.
Backing the overs could be the best play on this game, however, as the two sides have enough attacking quality to take the game to each other and there is an expectation for it to be open. The Over 2.5 goals bet is 1.4 and it might be a good bet given their recent high-scoring encounters.
Antonio Orlando can be a game-changer off the bench, notably scoring in comeback scenarios for Dulwich Hill, while Yuki Kanai can add an extra dimension to Hills’ attacks with his dynamic runs in transitions.
