Liberty’s Isuzu UTE A-League Team of the Week: Midfield Magicians Shine Bright

Here’s your latest update on the Isuzu UTE A-League Team of the Week, brought to you by Opta.

The regular season of the Isuzu UTE A-League for 2025-26 wrapped up over the weekend, delivering an exciting mix of drama and entertainment as always.

In Round 26, the Newcastle Jets enjoyed a jubilant celebration at McDonald Jones Stadium after securing the Premiers Plate, while Adelaide clinched second place in a thrilling finish at AAMI Park that will be remembered for years to come.

This week’s standout performer was Macarthur Bulls midfielder Luke Brattan, who played a pivotal role in the Bulls’ impressive 4-0 victory against Wellington Phoenix.

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This season, the Isuzu UTE A-League Team of the Week will be powered by Opta through the use of Opta Points, a detailed player metric that assesses a player’s overall impact during matches. Each Monday, the Team of the Week will be showcased in a 4-3-3 formation, featuring the top-performing athletes.

*Editor’s Note: The Team of the Week includes matches played from Monday to Sunday – some teams may feature more than once.

Joining Brattan in the midfield of this final Team of the Week are Melbourne City star Marcus Younis and Newcastle’s Clayton Taylor, all of whom are nominated for the Goal of the Week!

In the forward line, Adelaide United’s Luka Jovanovic netted a vital brace to share the golden boot and help the Reds secure second place, along with a spot in Asia next season. He is supported in attack by Perth Glory’s talented young striker Sebastian Despotovski and Melbourne Victory’s Clerismario Santos.

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In defence, Sydney FC’s Alexandar Popovic and Ben Garuccio earned their spots after both scored in a 2-2 draw with Auckland FC. They are joined by Adelaide’s Panagiotis Kikianis and Newcastle’s Joel Bertolissio, who both contributed significantly to their teams’ victories.

Lastly, for the first time this season, the goalkeeper in the final regular season Team of the Week is Melbourne Victory’s Jack Warshawksy, who achieved a clean sheet in Victory’s 2-0 win against the Wanderers.

Opta Points is a scoring system where players earn points for specific on-field actions. Typically, players who complete the full match accumulate between 10 and 40 points. (Find the complete breakdown of Opta Points below).

Understanding: Opta’s Team of the Week Using Opta Points

This scoring system differentiates between field players and goalkeepers, granting the same points for similar actions to all field players. A unique aspect of this system is its sole emphasis on in-game performances, without awarding points for post-match outcomes, such as securing a win or bonus points for a clean sheet.

Positive actions such as goals, passes, and tackles boost a player’s score, while negative actions like cards, own goals, and conceded goals reduce their point total. In theory, a player’s points can be unlimited, potentially even leading to negative scores. However, players who finish the match typically end up with between 10 and 40 points.

Actions factored into Opta Points include goals, shots on target, shots off target, blocked shots, own goals, assists, passes, crosses, tackles, interceptions, fouls won, fouls conceded, offsides, yellow cards, red cards, goals conceded, penalties won, and saves.