The following are previews with betting tips for Round 4 of the 2016/17 A-League season.
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Melbourne City v Adelaide United7:50 PM AEDT, AAMI Park |
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Can the FFA Cup finalists back up following their third match in a week? John Van’t Schip will hope he has managed his stocks well after his Melbourne City side defeated rivals Victory, on Tuesday night. Following the 3-2 home defeat to Perth a week ago, City rebounded with a 2-0 cup win – Luke Brattan opening the scoring in controversial circumstances as Cahill, standing in an offside position, seemed to be obscuring the vision of Lawrence Thomas in the Victory goal. They welcome Adelaide United who will be smarting from their unfortunate 2-1 defeat, to Victory, at Coopers Stadium.
The Reds will hope to continue their good form in Melbourne after winning both their visits there last term. Worryingly for the visitors, their injury list continues to grow with Henrique out for up to 6 weeks following a clash with Oliver Bozanic. After been falconed by a stray shot in the game against Perth, Melbourne City winger Bruce Kamau has recovered sufficiently from concussion and should return to the starting XI.
Nick’s tip: Adelaide United 1ah @1.61 (Pinnacle Sports)
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Newcastle Jets v Sydney FC5:35 PM AEDT, Hunter Stadium |
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Who can stop the Sky Blues, if anyone? Sydney continued their remarkable start to the season with a last gasp 1-0 in Wellington. In what was easily their toughest match to date, super-sub Matty Simon nodded expertly into the path of Milos Ninkovic, the Serb making no mistake from point blank to seal the points. Boasting a 20-0 goal scoring ratio, Graham Arnold’s men hold a flawless record in league and cup competition. As witnessed at Spotless Stadium last week, the Jets know how to spoil a party or two. Just ask Tony Popovic and his Wanderers, following the 2-2 draw on Sunday.
Former Sydney FC man, Andrew Hoole, will be aiming to be chief party pooper after his man of the match performance last week. Hoole has failed to fulfill his potential to date but new Jets’ manager, Mark Jones, seems to be bringing the best out of him. After making his much awaited return from injury in the FFA Cup, last week, Sydney forward Bernie Ibini is available for squad selection – leaving Graham Arnold with an embarrassment of riches up front.
Nick’s tip: Sydney -0.5ah @1.78 (SBOBET)
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Western Sydney Wanderers v Central Coast Mariners7:50 PM AEDT, Spotless Stadium |
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“It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to” was a hit song a very long time ago. The Wanderers perhaps could of sang their own rendition following the 2-2 draw at new temporary home, Spotless Stadium. It all seemed to be going swimmingly for the home side, two up by half time and the RBB in full voice. With Newcastle offering little resistance, it looked increasingly likely that Western Sydney would kill off the contest with a third (and maybe more). It was not to be and with energy levels dwindling as the match drew to its inevitable conclusion, keeper Andrew Redmayne produced two moments of utter madness to let the visitors in. Paul Okon’s Central Coast may prove to be Western Sydney’s best hangover remedy after a disappointing 1-0 defeat to Brisbane.
Does Tony Popovic keep faith with Andrew ‘Blooper Reel’ Redmayne or does he give former Mariners’ gloveman, Jerrad Tyson, his opportunity? Western Sydney completed a clean sweep of Central Coast last term so will fancy their chances of a first ever win at Spotless. The visitors will be thankful for the return of Liam Rose from international duty with the Young Socceroos.
Nick’s tip: Western Sydney -1.25ah @1.90 (Pinnacle Sports)
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Brisbane Roar v Perth Glory5:00 PM AEDT, Suncorp Stadium |
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Three rounds into the campaign and Brisbane continue to throw up more questions than answers as to how they will fair this season. A scratchy 1-0 win over the Mariners is nothing to write home about but it was a welcome three points, nonetheless, for John Aloisi’s men after the debacle in Newcastle a fortnight ago. Danish midfielder, Thomas Kristensen, opened his account with his new employers after some good work by Jack Hingert down the right flank. Brisbane then proceeded to waste enough chances to win two or three games of football with Socceroos hopeful, Jamie MacLaren, the most profligate. While the Roar are an enigma to many, there’s no doubting that Perth are likely to feature heavily when the cracks are whipping come April. The 3-2 win at title favourites Melbourne City dispelled any doubts about the quality of Kenny Lowe’s charges.
One may think that last week’s hat-trick hero, Andy Keogh, along with tricky winger Diego Castro are the obvious threats for Perth but it would be amiss not to mention the name of Dino Djulbic. The towering defender scored a brace against Brisbane in the FFA Cup, back in August, resulting in a 2-0 win. Kenny Lowe will watch on from the stands after his public dressing-down of referee Alan Milliner, during the half-time interval at AAMI Park, was not taken kindly to by the FFA.
Nick’s tip: Perth 0ah @2.33 (SBOBET)
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Melbourne Victory v Wellington Phoenix7:50 PM AEDT, Etihad Stadium |
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Vundabar! Former German youth international, Max Beister, was unveiled by Victory today with the forward joining the club on a season long loan from Mainz. Kevin Muscat could sure as use all the help he can get after his side’s colours were lowered again, twice in 12 days, by local rivals Melbourne City. Following on from the fortuitous 2-1 win in Adelaide, perhaps the men in blue were due a bit of tough luck as controversial referee, Shaun Evans, allowed Luke Brattan’s strike to stand despite the raised flag from the assistant. Wellington were also dealt a bad hand by the officials, not once but twice, as they fell 1-0 to early pace-setters Sydney FC. Roy Krishna and Kosta Barbarouses were each stopped in their tracks by wrong offside decisions as Ernie Merrick was left to ponder on what might of been.
While Beister gets up to speed with life Down Under, Kevin Muscat can at least call upon the services of fellow forward James Troisi who returns from a shoulder injury. Former Wellington winger, Marco Rojas, has been Victory’s brightest player in recent outings and will pose a strong threat down the flanks. Although the visitors roll into town on the back of three straight defeats, two of those could of gone either way, I don’t expect them to be short on confidence.
Nick’s tip: Over 2.75 goals @1.81 (Pinnacle Sports)
