A-League 2026/27: Melbourne City fancied to wrestle the title back

The 2026/27 A-League season promises to be a thriller, with several teams harbouring genuine hopes of winning the title.

Defending champions Auckland FC will make a bold bid to retain the prize, but that may be easier said than done after a summer of change at the club.

Manager Steve Corica joined Japanese club Yokohama F Marinos only weeks after guiding them to the title and he will be a tough act for Pedro Moreira to follow.

They are amongst the favourites with online bookmakers to go back-to-back in the A-League, but punters may feel there is better value elsewhere in the market.

Aussie bettors familiar with the Crown Casino Australia online platform are renowned for being shrewd when it comes to their wagering activities.

They often choose games such as blackjack, which offer them the best chance of making a consistent profit from playing at an online casino.

Their savvy behaviour will likely be reflected by betting activity in the ante-post A-League market, where one team stands out as the value bet.

A-League 2026/27: Top signings

Player	From	To	Value at the time	Fee
Ryan Fraser	Western Sydney Wanderers	Macarthur	€1.50m	free transfer
Bryce Duke	San Diego	Wellington Phoenix	€1.20m	?
Matheus Rossetto	Fortaleza Esporte Clube	Melbourne City	€1.00m	loan transfer
Julio Cascante	Without Club	Melbourne City	€1.00m	–
Calem Nieuwenhof	Heart of Midlothian	Perth Glory	€800k	loan transfer
Joe Lolley	Sydney FC	Newcastle Jets	€750k	free transfer
Guillermo May	Auckland FC	Melbourne Victory	€650k	free transfer
Nicolas Milanovic	Aberdeen	Western Sydney Wanderers	€600k	?
Emiliano Marcondes	Norwich City	Melbourne City	€600k	free transfer
Lachlan Bayliss	Newcastle Jets	Auckland FC	€550k	free transfer
Virgiliu Postolachi	FC Universitatea Cluj	Brisbane Roar	€550k	€50k
Apostolos Stamatelopoulos	Motherwell	Macarthur	€550k	?
Awer Mabil	CD Castellon	Melbourne City	€500k	?
Rafael Duran	Macarthur	Wellington Phoenix	€500k	free transfer
Nikolaos Vergos	Melbourne Victory	Newcastle Jets	€450k	free transfer
Nathan Paull	Central Coast Mariners	Macarthur	€450k	free transfer
Miguel Di Pizio	Central Coast Mariners	Western Sydney Wanderers	€450k	free transfer
Kosta Grozos	Newcastle Jets	Macarthur	€450k	free transfer
Dimitri Valkanis	AEK Athens	Brisbane Roar	€450k	free transfer
Takahiro Sekine	Urawa Red Diamonds	Sydney FC	€450k	?
Oriola Sunday	RB Omiya Ardija	Sydney FC	€450k	loan transfer
Jacob Farrell	Portsmouth	Sydney FC	€450k	loan transfer

A-League 2026/27: Matchday 1 fixtures

Friday, October 16

• Sydney FC vs Western Sydney Wanderers

Saturday, October 17

• Auckland FC vs Melbourne City
• Macarthur vs Perth Glory
• Central Coast Mariners vs Newcastle Jets

Sunday, October 18

• Wellington Phoenix vs Melbourne Victory
• Adelaide United vs Brisbane Roar

A-League 2026/27: Preview

Melbourne City have won the A-League title twice in the last six seasons and look a good bet to mount a strong bid to claim the prize this term.

They have made several noteworthy additions to their squad including Awer Mabil, who returns to Australia after more than a decade in Europe.

The Socceroos winger featured at the 2022 and 2026 World Cups and should be a standout performer in the A-League this season.

Melbourne Victory have also been active during the close season, appointing Giovanni Savarese as their new manager on a two-year contract.

The Venezuelan took Portland Timbers to two Major League Soccer (MLS) Cup finals and will be eager to help Victory win their first title since 2017/18.

Newcastle Jets finished top of the standings during the regular season last term and should be competitive during the upcoming campaign.

They have signed former Nottingham Forest forward Joe Lolley from Sydney FC and he should prove to be a shrewd acquisition.

However, Melbourne City are strongly fancied to win the A-League title for the third time in seven seasons.

A-League 2026/27: Melbourne City fancied to wrestle the title back