A-League: Sydney FC and Melbourne City the early favourites

Round 10 shows signs of being an early indicator of which team will win this year’s title.

Sydney FC striker Bobo, right, waits for the ball to drop before scoring against Central Coast Mariners at Allianz Stadium on Saturday.

The A-League has its early title favourites, now the long wait is on for a blockbuster round-10 clash when Melbourne City and Sydney FC meet to decide whose case is stronger.

No other side has showed anything near the class and utter ruthlessness displayed by the two glamour clubs in the opening two rounds of the season.

Sydney’s back-to-back 4-0 floggings of Western Sydney and Central Coast have them at the top of the table on goal difference from second-placed City, whose 4-1 Melbourne derby whitewash has to be seen to be believed in much the same fashion as Tim Cahill’s preposterous first A-League goal.

There was only a slim possibility that Cahill, the figurehead of Football Federation Australia’s marketing campaign, could match the enormous expectations surrounding his long-awaited debut in the league. That the Socceroos’ all-time leading scorer exceeded those expectations has already gone a long way towards repaying the mega-money investment, the 36-year-old describing his audacious 35m half-volley as being “up there” with the best goals of his career. It sets up the season’s first clash between Sydney FC and Melbourne City, at ANZ Stadium on Friday, December 9, as a mouth-watering encounter, though both sides have been keen to keep a lid on expectations.

City midfielder and man of the match Luke Brattan agreed with coach John van’t Schip’s assessment that “championships are not won in the first two games”. Yet he was not surprised at the way his team ripped local rivals Melbourne Victory to shreds.

“If you look at our squad and the pre-season we’ve had, we’re very confident in ourselves,” said Brattan, who scored City’s third goal. “We’ve got lots of talented players, we’re extremely fit and I think that showed.”

The Sky Blues were up against lesser opposition in the battling Mariners, yet the ease with which Graham Arnold’s men disposed of them suggested they could comfortably lift several more notches when required.

“I don’t think it was our best performance, but to still win pretty comfortably when you’re not playing your best was a good sign,” Sky Blues right-back Rhyan Grant said. “It’s early doors but we can be pretty happy with our start to the season.”

Paul Okon’s reinvented Mariners dominated possession but spent most of it dallying inside their own half, a smattering of schoolboy errors soon leading to self-destruction.

AAP