Wellington Among the Favourites for the A-League Championship Title in 2024
Last updated: May 8, 2024, 1:22PM | Published: May 8, 2024, 1:22PM
When you read this article, you will already know whether Wellington Phoenix has become the first team from the other side of the Tasman to top the A-League log and win the Premier crown. At the time of writing, with a single match to play - one less than their Premier rivals, Central Coast Mariners - the intrepid New Zealanders are a point ahead in the standings.
In a landmark season for Phoenix, the Premier title race is now out of its hands. If Central Coast has won its game in hand and won or drawn its final fixture, the Mariners will usurp the New Zealand side and claim the A-League Premier title for 2023/24. The only thing Wellington could do is to win its remaining match against fourth-placed Macarthur and hope for the best.
Of course, you already know what transpired, but whether Wellington Phoenix is the Premier champion or not, Giancarlo Italiano's men know there are still bigger fish to fry in the guise of the A-League Championship.
New Zealanders are known as avid soccer fans, supporting their teams in many ways, including betting on sports. Like the Phoenix team, they also realise the importance of the upcoming playoffs in Kiwi sports history.
The season's league fixtures ended on May 1, when Central Coast Mariners played Adelaide United in a crucial final match. The knock-out fight for the A-League Championship title will begin shortly with the Championship playoffs, which feature the top six finishers in the A-League Premier competition. After its conclusion, the 2023/24 A-League Championship winners will hold the Champions Trophy high.
The Phoenix and the Mariners are guaranteed the top two seedings for the Championship, while four other teams will play off to join them in the Championship's semi-final round. According to New Zealand's best offshore betting sites, many of which offer cryptocurrency options, the two dominant sides in the A-League competition top the odds boards for a Championship win.
Central Coast Mariners (3.5) has the shortest odds, with the price on offer for Wellington Phoenix (4.5) slightly longer. Melbourne Victory (5.0) and Sydney FC (6.5) should expect to meet the two favourites in the semi-finals, with Macarthur (9.0) also already qualifying for the playoffs.
Melbourne City (8.0) is more favoured to win the Championship than Macarthur, despite being unsure of a playoff berth as we write, with a Premier fixture still to play. Rank outsiders for the title, Western City Wanderers (51.0), could still sneak the final playoff position ahead of Melbourne, but you'll already know whether this has happened when reading this.
No matter which teams join Wellington Phoenix in the A-League Championship semi-finals, 2023/24 represents the best chance of a Champions Trophy for the New Zealand outfit. The Phoenix's best finish in the competition is third, back in 2009/10. Wellington again reached the semi-finals in the following two seasons, losing both.
With Phoenix's highest A-League Premier finish also being third in 2019/20, the Kiwi side has already scaled heights not seen before in its history this season, and the promise of an in-form showing by Phoenix in the semi-finals is high due to its sustained good league form.
Such a semi-final performance would mean a place in the Championship Finals for the first time, which is what offshore bookmakers are predicting. A similar showing in the ultimate match could see the A-League Champions Trophy end up in a non-Australian cabinet for the only time since the A-League Men finals series began in 2005/06.
Ideally, the Wellington Phoenix would like a Finals victory over its closest 2023/24 rivals, Central Coast Mariners, as revenge for its early April 1-2 league defeat in New South Wales. Realistically, the opposition won't matter if the Phoenix team can carry the Champions Trophy across the Tasman Sea to Wellington after the 2023/24 A-League Championship Final.
