- Preston Lions have the home ground advantage, the better recent form and a recent head-to-head record of one win, one draw and one loss in NPL Victoria 2026.
- Bentleigh Greens have suffered 4 defeats in their last 5 matches.
Preston have the power to hold their own against the Greens
Preston Lions have won 1, drawn 1 and lost 1 of the last 3 meetings with Bentleigh Greens SC, so the fixture has proved to be a bit of a arm wrestle over the past few years.
Lupce Acevski's men are more than holding their own in NPL Victoria 2026 and sit 3rd in the table with 39 points from 20 matches. Bentleigh Greens are having a disappointing season by their own standards and are 12th with 19 points from 21 games.
Acevski has shaped Preston into a compact and tenacious unit, where the ball is controlled from the first touch and the midfield is controlled through a possession-first approach. They are very solid in the defensive third and often look to play through the middle, using quick bursts of pressure to control the midfield.
Bentleigh are a typical Australian side in that they like to put the ball into the box and get as many bodies there as possible. They are a little more effective from wide areas, but their players will make late runs into the area when they can.
They have the quality to score goals, but Preston are very well drilled and will certainly get the better of this fixture if they can land the first punch.
The hosts come into this game 4 wins and 1 draw from their last 5 across all competitions, so they are in good form. Their recent results include a 2-1 win over Hume City in NPL Victoria 2026, a 0-0 draw at South Melbourne in NPL Victoria 2026 and a 3-2 win over Newcastle United Jets in the Australia Cup 2026.
George Katsakis' side will have a go, but they have lost 4 of their last 5 and have a poor away record this season. They have won just 1 of 9 away matches in NPL Victoria 2026 (D1, L7) and have conceded 18 goals in the process.
Preston are the clear favourites at 1.33, Bentleigh Greens are 7.8 and the draw is 4.5. As the hosts have the advantage and will get a good result against Bentleigh, we recommend backing Preston Lions & over 2.5 goals at 1.63. Nahuel Bonada is their main goal threat, having scored 2 of Preston's 3 goals in the past 5 games.
