The following are previews with betting tips for Round 11 of the 2017/18 A-League season.
View and compare the latest A-League bookmaker odds
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Friday, December 15
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Sydney FC v Melbourne City7:50 PM AEDT, Allianz Stadium |
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Match Fact: From the past three times these sides have played each other, the Sky Blues have kept six clean-sheets as well as winning all three of the matches.
From these games both Alex Brosque and Bobo have found the back of the net twice each, will either do so on Friday night in pursuit of a Sydney victory?
What Happened Last Round: The biggest ever derby win between Sydney and Western Sydney. 5-0 was the score as the Sky Blues tore the Wanderers to absolute shreds in what was an absolute master-class from the reigning champions. While if it weren’t for a handball in the lead-up to an eventually disallowed Michael Zullo goal, two incredible consecutive Vedran Janjetovic saves in the second-half, an easy missed Bobo shot or a David Carney penalty claim waived away, the score would have been even more bigger and humiliating. Adrian Mierzejewski struck twice for Sydney, while Alex Brosque opened his account for the season, while Brandon O’Neil also scored. There was also a Lachlan Scott own-goal. The result left Sydney with a +12 goal difference and five points clear at the summit of the table. While for City they remained in 3rd place after a hard-fought 1-0 win over the Mariners. Ross McCormack was the games only goal scorer with his 7th of the campaign. Incredibly Melbourne won the match with only 42% possession.
What Should Happen: Another Sydney victory. From 10 games this season, the Sky Blues have won 8 of them, with only a loss and a draw the only blemishes on their otherwise perfect campaign. As well as this, they have also beaten City once already this season as well as being the ones that knocked them out of the most recent edition of the FFA Cup. With Redmayne having kept five clean-sheets already this campaign and Mierzejewski coming of his big performance form last round, expect Sydney to claim their 9th win of the season and go 8 points clear at the top.
Betting tip: Pick Sydney to claim the victory at $1.71 (Pinnacle)
Also pick them to be the leaders after 60 minutes at $2.00 (Ladbrokes)
Saturday, December 16
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Newcastle Jets v Adelaide United5:35 PM AEDT, McDonald Jones Stadium |
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Match Fact: Three minutes of madness is what cost Adelaide a point the last time they played the Jets earlier in the season. United were leading 1-0 heading into half-time, but just before the whistle was blown, Ben Kantarovski scored. Then on the first play of the second half, Andrew Nabbout bagged one of his own to deny Adelaide the draw.
Will their be a similar period of play in this game or will it posses more calmness to it given both sides strong ladder positions?
What Happened Last Round: In front of everyone at NIB Stadium, the Jets literally shot Perth right in the heart and robbed them of the win. Johnny Koutroumbis started the robbery in the 88th minute by finding the back of the net. This before it was completed when in the 92nd minute of the game when an unfortunate Jeremy Walker own-goal gave Newcastle all three points and helped them cement 2nd position on the ladder. Does this result say more about Newcastle and their ability to claim the victory form even the most unlikely of situations or that Perth essentially choke when it matters most? Adelaide in their game didn’t have it easy either in their 2-1 win over the Victory. Paul Izzo had to save a Bersart Berisha penalty. While they had to endure close to 10 minutes of extra-time, as well as having in the 82nd and 87th minutes of the match Adlung and Garuccio sent of with reds. They held on for an extremely unlikely victory and are rightfully so are in the Top Four at this point during the season. They also had only 39% possession compared to their opponents who had 61%.
What Should Happen: A closely contested game between two highly improved teams. Last season the Jets finished in last place with 22 points, while this season they are currently in second place and have 20 points. While Adelaide’s last campaign saw them finish a disappointing 9th. While now, they are the current FFA Cup runners-up and are in the Top Four. Both these sides will display the qualities that have made them a side to reckon with this season and will put up a game that should be well-worth watching.
Betting tip: Pick Newcastle to claim the victory at $1.95 (Pinnacle)
Pick both teams to find the back of the net at $1.61 (William Hill)
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Central Coast Mariners v Western Sydney Wanderers7:50 PM AEDT, Central Coast Stadium |
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Match Fact: Not only have Western Sydney now won only one match for the entire season, they have now scored zero goals from their past three matches, while losing all three of them for an aggregate score of 9-0.
The CCM, as well as they can score them, can also leak them. Will the Red & Black break their drought against the Mariners away from home or will the Central Coast stay strong at the back and claim the win?
What Happened Last Round: The Central Coast dropped out of the Top Four as they went down 1-0 to Melbourne City. The only strike of the match came via Ross McCormack in the 59th minute. The Mariners had only two shots on target the entire game which hindered their attacking abilities against City. While they also had 58% possession, something they were not able to take advantage of. For now at least, Sydney is Sky Blue as the Wanderers lost 5-0 in an absolute smashing to their biggest rivals. Despite having home-ground advantage the Wanderers couldn’t take advantage despite having two shots come of the post and missing another host of chances. Adrian Mierzejewski ran riot with Western Sydney’s defence and bagged two goals for the match, while Sydney captain Alex Brosque also opened his account for the season by finding the back of the net during the game. Brandon O’Neil also got one while Lachlan Scott unfortunately scored an own-goal. However Western Sydney should count themselves lucky that the score wasn’t even bigger than it was given that Sydney had a goal disallowed for a handball in the lead-up to it.
What Should Happen: The Wanderers breaking their winning drought. Western Sydney won their opening game of the campaign, but haven’t won since. However they are coming up against a Mariners side, that while most definitely are a strong side, are also one that can be wildly inconsistent. For example, their past two games before last round saw them win 1-0 and 4-1. However in their most recent game, they came away 1-0 losers. This gives Western Sydney an under dogs chance of winning this game. Key for them will be Santalab up front and Janjetovic at the back.
Betting tip: Pick WSW to claim the upset victory at $2.59 (Pinnacle)
Tip the total goals bracket for the match to be between 4-6 at $2.84 (SBOBET)
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Perth Glory v Wellington Phoenix10:00 PM AEDT, nib Stadium |
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Match Fact: The Glory have now won only one of their past five matches for an aggregate score of 11-6. While Wellington who are dead-last in the A-League are on a run that is zero wins from their past five games with a combined score of 7-3 going against them.
Will it be the Glory or the Phoenix who claim a much needed three points on a late Saturday evening?
What Happened Last Round: The Glory choked about as hard as PSG did when they gave up their now ‘infamous’ advantage against Barcelona. They were leading 1-0 heading into the 88th minute courtesy of an earlier Joseph Knowles strike. However Johnny Koutroumbis found the back of the net to even up the score to 1-1. While four minutes later, in the 92nd minute, Jeremy Walker unfortunately found the back of his own net to give Newcastle the most surprising of wins. The loss for Perth brings Kenny Lowe to the forefront about what he’s done with Perth and is currently trying to achieve with them as well as what Perth want done this campaign. For Wellington, their result was slightly better, but not by much as they drew 0-all with the Roar on the Gold Coast. The Phoenix had 17 shots to Brisbane’s 7, but still couldn’t find a way past them. They also dominated defensively making 9 tackles to Brisbane’s 8, as well as winning 59 duels compared to their opponents 38. As as result of what happened to these two sides last round, they have only a collective 4 wins from a massive 19 games this season.
What Should Happen: A snooze fest. Perth’s highest goal scorer this season is Adam Taggart with three. While for Wellington, their only legitimate threats in front of goal are Andrija Kaluderovic and Dario Vidosic. While for the campaign, Perth have only put up two ore more goals in a game four times, while for the Phoenix that number is also a very poor four. While both clubs have been kept to zero a collective six times this season. If you watch this game with the intention of seeing a high-scoring, attacking oriented game, then you will be severely disappointed.
Betting tip: Pick the draw at $3.87 (Pinnacle)
Pick the total goals bracket for the match to be between 2-3 at $1.93 (SBOBET)
Sunday, December 17
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Brisbane Roar v Melbourne Victory7:00 PM AEDT, Suncorp Stadium |
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Match Fact: The last time Brisbane and Melbourne played each other it was a 1-all draw. The Victory looked to be on their way to a win after striking first through Besart Berisha in the 79th minute before the Roar evened things up only five minutes later through Brett Holman.
Will Berisha conjure up some more magic against his former side or will it be Brisbane who continue their recent, decent run of form?
What Happened Last Round: Brisbane drew 0-all with the last placed Phoenix in what was a somewhat disappointing result from the QLD based side. They could manage only 1 shot on target the entire game and 7 in total while their opponents were regularly in their half as they banged out 17 shots. However it is a small positive for Brisbane that this happened and they still managed to keep a clean-sheet as well as claim a point form the match considering Wellington’s domiance. For Melbourne they absolutely deserved to lose their game against Adelaide. They had a Besart Berisha penalty attempt saved on the stroke of half-time. As well as this there was close to 10 minutes of extra-time and both Adlung and Garuccio were sent of in the 82nd and 87th minute of the game respectively. Melbourne couldn’t put one past United despite all of this, thus resulting in a well-earned win for the opposition team. Melbourne also had a shot come of the woodwork, which didn’t exactly help their causes while they also gave away 17 fouls, while United conceded only 11.
What Should Happen: Similar to the Glory vs Phoenix game, one that you can probably skip watching. Brisbane in 6 of their 10 games this season have put up only a goal or none at all. While for the Victory that number is a slightly worse 7 of 10. Both sides main attacking threats in Maccarone and Berisha have had their inconsistency’s this season making scoring goals for both sides a slightly hard thing to do. Again don’t expect many goals in this match. A boring draw is probably the most likely outcome.
Betting tip: Pick the draw to be the result at $3.72 (Pinnacle)
After 60 minutes pick the game to be at a draw at $2.55 (Ladbrokes)
Best Bet of the Round
For the CCM vs WSW game, pick the time of the first goal to be scored in the 15th minute or earlier at $2.70 (William Hill)
Pick Newcastle to score first against Adelaide at $1.67 (Ladbrokes, CrownBet)