A-League Preview: Melbourne City, Sydney FC, Central Coast and More

The 2021-22 A-league season will be the 18th season of the competition in Australia.

Heading into this season, Melbourne City will be looking to defend their historic title. Under the leadership of Patrick Kisnorbo, City was able to revenge their 2019 Grand Final defeat at the hands of Sydney FC, in a thrilling 3-1 victory. Kisnorbo will lead his charges as one of the favourites to win the title and go back to back.

Sydney FC will be looking to make it back to the big stage again, after making four of the last five grand finals and winning three of them. If it weren’t for City last year, Sydney FC would have won three titles in a row. These two sides you would think would be the top two favourites going into this season.

For a rarity, we saw the historically dominant Melbourne Victory claim their first-ever wooden spoon last season. We saw new lows for the Victory, with only five wins. But heading into this year, one of the more interesting things of the season could be how the Victory rise. Under the new coach of Tony Popovic, they have recruited very well in the offseason.

Some of the significant signings' include getting Jason Geria and Stephen Nigro back. They will bolster their defence. The experience will also be supported by Matthew Sprianovic and Brendan Hamill. Spiranovic, another AFC Asian Cup winner, returns to action following a brief absence from the game, while Hamill is set to build on his 135 A-League appearances.

Youth players, Matthew Bozinovski, Edmond Lupancu, Thomas Lambiris and Aisen Ishak will also be looking to break into the A-League squad in 2021/22. It’s fair to say that there is hope for the Victory heading into season 2021/22, and it will be once again challenging to make it into the top six again. If not, you would expect them mid-table.

Central Coast will also be one of the teams to look out for. After coming third, as they made the finals for the first time since 2014. They will look to go deeper into the finals this season, after losing the elimination final 2-0 to the new, Macarthur FC in extra time.

It's fair to say that it was an incredible debut season for Macarthur FC. Making it into the sixth position, with 11 wins and six draws. Not only that but to win their first-ever finals match when they defeated the Mariners 2-0. Only to fall short of a grand final 2-0 in the hands of eventual champions Melbourne City. Macarthur will truly believe that a grand final appearance is not beyond them, following the form they showed in their inaugural season.

All in all, it looks like an exciting season ahead. We hope that restrictions will eventually allow full crowds. It will be interesting to see how the champions of City keep up their form. Also, will Sydney be able to make it to another consecutive grand final? How will the young Victory appear under new management and their new signings? All in all, it is a season of big promise and we are looking forward to some great football action.

Want more soccer? Check out these

Barcelona's Financial Crisis

Germany Qualifies For Qatar '22

Jamie Samuel is a contributing writer here at The Pyrrhic. He covers all things Australian and sports!

Show your love for thepyrrhic.com with this sweet branded t-shirt