- Brisbane Roar are short priced favourites against National Premier Leagues NSW side, Sydney Olympic.
- Brisbane Roar should be the classier team and a goal or two better on paper, but Sydney Olympic are in a scrappy mood and may be able to turn this into a cup clash.
- Sydney Olympic have conceded goals to Rockdale and NWS Spirit in recent weeks, so they are vulnerable defensively.
Roar to put Olympic to the sword
Brisbane Roar should not be surprised by the style of game Sydney Olympic will try to play on Thursday when the A-League team take on the National Premier League NSW side in the Round of 32 of the Australia Cup 2026.
The Sydney club have won NPL NSW games with victories over Wollongong Wolves, St George and Western Sydney Wanderers, but they have also suffered a couple of multi-goal defeats to Rockdale and NWS Spirit.
Olympic sit on 18 points from 23 games in NPL NSW and are near the bottom of the ladder, although this should be a scrappy game regardless of the final result.
Michael Melito's men are well organised by their interim boss, who has kept them afloat while surviving the grind, but the defensive issues remain. Olympic do have a goalscorer in Bailey Callaghan, who can be a threat at the top, while Filip Kurto is an experienced goalkeeper who has the presence to keep a game like this tight.
Roar to be ruthless
Brisbane will be looking for an early goal to close this out as soon as possible, but Olympic are capable of making it tight for a period at least, which could lead to a nervy second half.
Michael Valkanis' style of play is much more proactive, pressing high up the pitch, attacking wide, and playing on the transition when they can break free with pace.
Michael Ruhs is the kind of outlet they need for that style of football, but Valkanis will also have Georgios Vrakas and Jay O'Shea to give his Roar side a little more bite in the center of the park.
Panayioti Armenakas is Olympic's main creative outlet and he has the vision to see that the Roar defense is compact and the quality on set-piece scenarios to make the most of them if they can create enough chances.
Brisbane missed the top-six in the A-League Men this past campaign and this Cup run could be their saviour as they go into the new season with a different mood. They finished the regular season poorly, falling to a pair of one-goal defeats to Perth Glory and Melbourne City and a draw against Central Coast Mariners, but they have the quality to put Olympic to the sword.
There is no head-to-head record to go on here, but Roar are the classier side and should come through this tie, albeit not as comfortably as the odds imply. We're taking the A-League side to win this one, but Sydney Olympic's scrappy style of soccer should ensure that Brisbane have to play their best to get the job done. Over 2.5 goals at 1.34 and BTTS at 1.61 are our selection for a lively contest in which Roar's attackers will do the damage.
