A race to the finish: Much to play for in the A-League men's season

Brought to you by Emmanuel Davis.

If you're a Wellington Phoenix or a Central Coast Mariners fan in the A-League Premier, it's time to start biting your nails.

With only five rounds of fixtures left, The Phoenix lead The Mariners by three points, but the Central Coast side has a game in hand on its New Zealand rivals.

With the two frontrunners due to meet in The Mariners' Central Coast Stadium in Gosford on April 6, the odds slightly favour the New South Wales outfit for a grand final victory, according to the betting sites listed by Techopedia.

Still, as things stand, the A-League premier title race is too close to call.

In a four-game winning streak in the regular season league, Central Coast has found the opposition's net six times without conceding, including a 3-0 demolition of third-placed Macarthur at the Campbelltown Sports Stadium last time out.

On this kind of form, and with a perceivably easier league run-in than its Kiwi rival, it's hardly surprising that the bookies offer odds of 3.75 on the favourites compared with 5.0 on the Wellington team.

A win for either team in their upcoming meeting, or even a drawn result, could open the door slightly for Macarthur (11.0) or Melbourne Victory (19.0) to mount an unlikely premier challenge, although eight points seem an unlikely margin to make up at this late stage of the season.

Whatever the case, both teams have enjoyed stellar campaigns in 2023/24, considering they occupied the bottom two league positions the previous season.

Wellington Phoenix is bidding to become the first New Zealand team to win the coveted A-League grand final and, hence, the championship title. With both history and form against it, The Phoenix face a difficult task to usurp The Mariners, though, as the defending grand final champion has been in this position before.

Last season, Central Coast Mariners won the grand final after ending 11 points behind Melbourne City FC in the Premiership competition, so there's no guarantee that, even if The Phoenix takes the regular season Premier title, the club will be displaying the championship trophy in its cabinet next season.

The Premier Plate should be raised by one of the two top protagonists this season, with the winner earning a place in Asia's top continental competition, the AFC Champions League.

With the top six finishers qualifying for the A-League Championship, there remains much incentive for those clubs slightly off the pace in the regular league race.

With league positions as they currently are, eight teams could still finish in the top six and gain inclusion in the A-League Championship competition.

Besides The Phoenix and The Mariners, the other sides vying for qualification are Macarthur, Melbourne Victory, Sydney FC, Western Sydney Wanderers, Brisbane Roar and last season's Premier Plate winners, Melbourne City FC.

Two will still fall away, but the knockout format of the competition means any of the others could end up lifting the Championship Trophy after the grand final.

With five of the eight potential candidates holding previous A-League Championship titles, 15 in total, there is a wealth of experience and some new blood in the game.

Before we get there, though, immediate interest remains focused on whether we'll see a New Zealand winner of the Premier title or whether last year's runners-up will prevail in a close and exciting A-League regular season.

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