The following are previews with betting tips for Round 4 of the 2018/19 A-League season.
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Friday, November 9
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Melbourne City v Wellington Phoenix7:50 PM AEDT, AAMI Park |
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What’s Happened Most Recently: Playing at home Melbourne City were thoroughly outclassed by Sydney as they went down 3-0 in a very unconvincing effort from Warren Joyce’s men. Former City man Paulo Retre was the first player to haunt his former club as he gave the opposition the lead inside the opening 20 minutes of the match. Two further goals from Le Fondre sealed the result for Sydney. Melbourne had more possession, 60%, more shots 9 vs 7 and a better passing accuracy 87% vs 76%, yet somehow couldn’t find a way to even claim a point.
For Wellington they were embarrassing on their home-turf as they gave up very easily in a 3-0 loss to Western Sydney. And the Red & Black had their gaffer banned from this match as well. Three different players scored for the Wanderers in Baumjohann (11th minute), Oriol Reira (55th minute) and O’Doherty (92nd minute). However overall this game wasn’t a bad shout from the Phoenix despite the score-line indicating otherwise. They were trigger happy taking 13 shots, while they conceded only 14 fouls to Western Sydney’s 21. Plus a couple of dodgy VAR calls definitely worked against Mark Rudan’s side.
What Should Happen: An all-City affair. Expect Wellington to be strong in this game but for City’s attack to prove just too much for them to handle. On Day one they scored two against the Victory. On Day Two they managed 23 shots vs the Mariners. And on Day Three they took more shots then Sydney despite losing the game. However this could be where Fornarolli and Vidosic really star against a poor Phoenix defence. Goals will be the name of the game here and don’t expect it to be going Wellington’s way.
Betting tip: Pick City to win at $1.58 (UniBet)
Also pick City to score first at $1.40 (Bet365)
Saturday, November 10
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Western Sydney Wanderers v Brisbane Roar5:35 PM AEDT, Glen Willow Stadium (Mudgee) |
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What’s Happened Most Recently: No Babbel no problem for the Wanderers as with their head-coach banned they still overcame Wellington 3-0 in less then desirable conditions across the ditch. However the Refs did help a bit with a few questionable calls working in Western Sydney’s favour. However despite that they did put in a strong performance on the field. They had 56% of the ball and managed to fire 21 shots off at Wellington’s shallow defence. While the Red & Black were strong in that area winning 54 duels vs 45 and 13 aerial duels vs 8. Their foul numbers were however a bit of a cause for concern though as they leaked 21.
The opposition saw red in the 83rd minute of the game and despite the ensuing Adam Taggart penalty it wasn’t enough for the Roar to do anything as they went down 2-1 to Perth in their first defeat of the new campaign. Brisbane now only have two draws and a loss to show form their opening 3 games. The Roar had more of the ball 52% vs 48%, however shots wise they screwed it up pretty badly. They allowed the Glory to more then double their shots total, 13 vs 6. While only a solitary one of Brisbane’s shots ended up on target. It wasn’t the best of efforts from John Aloisi’s men.
What Should Happen: A pretty crappy affair. Western Sydney only beat Wellington because of a few favorable decisions. While Brisbane have no wins this campaign. With the exception against Wellington the Wanderers scored only one goal over their opening two matches. As for Brisbane they have only two goals form three matches and both have come from Adam Taggart! And one was a penalty. As shown here neither of these two sides can attack all that well and expect that to drizzle out into the match and make it a rather boring one.
Betting tip: Pick the draw to be the result at $3.50 (UniBet, Bet365, PalmerBet, Sportsbet)
Pick Oriol Reira to be an anytime goalscorer at $5.20 (UniBet)
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Newcastle Jets v Sydney FC7:50 PM AEDT, McDonald Jones Stadium |
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What’s Happened Most Recently: Newcastle showed that Victory are still the better side then them as they went down 1-0 to last seasons A-League champions. A 71st minute Terry Antonis goal is all that separated the two sides in the match. Newcastle were fired up for the match and it showed as they took 21 shots at Melbourne’s goals. However conversion wise they weren’t the greatest as only four of them ended up on target. They also only had 48% possession. They also wanted to make the Victory work hard and they did having to put up with the pain of 18 fouls. A bit concerning for Newcastle though given Melbourne only did it 11 times.
Adam Le Fondre went full beast-mode for Sydney up in Melbourne as he saw his A-League goal-scoring record stand at four goals from three matches as he put two past City. Retre did it first for the Sky Blues in the 16th minute against his former employers. Then Alfie did it in the 61st minute and 92nd minute of the game. Sydney despite having only 40% of the ball made their opportunities count as Milos Ninkovic was another star performer from the game as they put four of their attempted seven shots on target. Sydney now sit in first position with a goal difference of +5.
What Should Happen: Another victory for Steve Corica’s men. Sydney have won 12/15 matches against the Jets and are an absolutely dominant side at the moment. With Newcastle having only two goals from their opening three games they’ve been a real hard thing to come by for Ernie Merrick’s men. As for Sydney from their opening three encounters of the new season they have double that amount in six. While they’re also trying to show that their legit after losing the FFA Cup Final to Adelaide not too long ago. The Sky Blues attack and Newcastle’s lack of one is what will get them victory number three in the new season.
Betting tip: Pick Sydney to win at $2.04 (Bet365)
Also pick only one team to score during the game at $2.17 (UniBet)
Sunday, November 11
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Adelaide United v Perth Glory5:00 PM AEDT, Coopers Stadium |
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What’s Happened Most Recently: Graham Arnold take notice because Craig Goodwin is an absolute stud. Just days after carrying Adelaide on his back and beating Sydney in the FFA Cup Final, he scored two and assisted on one as Adelaide thrashed the Mariners 3-zip. Adelaide shooting wise were very strong as they made 50% of their shots go on target, 6/12. In addition to that they kept the CC to only 2/12 on target as their defence remained strong. Not only was the score-line an absolute pumping but some of the stat-lines were as well. Adelaide conceded only 11 fouls to the Mariners 17. However far worse then that was in the duels won. Adelaide won that battle 62 to 36!
For Perth they continued their renascence under Tony Popovic as they claimed a second straight victory beating Brisbane 2-1. Former Perth man Adam Taggart struck once for the Roar but that was about the only good thing that happened for the opposition. The Glory had a red car to Mrcela in the 83rd minute but it didn’t matter much as they claimed the convincing victory. The goal-scorers for the WA based side being Andy Keogh again and a Connor O’Toole OG. Perth saw 7 of their 13 shots go on target as well as completing 85% of their passes, 404/478. Enough said.
What Should Happen: The game of the round. On one side you have an un-defeated Craig Goodwin and Adelaide, who are the reigning FFA Cup champs coming up against a free-flow scoring Perth Glory side that have also yet to lose either. That while the battle between the in-form attackers of Goodwin and Andy Keogh should be something for every Aussie Football Fan to savior. This game should absolutely live up to it’s billing and should be an awesome one to watch!
Betting tip: Pick the draw to be the result at $3.60 (Bet365)
Also pick both teams to score at $1.61 (Bet365)
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Melbourne Victory v Central Coast Mariners7:00 PM AEDT, AAMI Park |
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What’s Happened Most Recently: Terry Antonis did what he does best as he found the back of the net in the 71st minute against the Jets and in the process gave Melbourne their first victory of the season in a 1-0 win for Kevin Muscat’s side. Besides the former Sydney man haunting yet another side, the Victory gave up only 11 fouls to Newcastle’s 18. While their passing was also on point with an accuracy percentage of 72%, 338/467. However shooting wise they weren’t so great having only 3/10 shots go on target and Antonis getting just the one. And it continues a worrying trend for the Victory with that being their second game this season in which they’ve produced only one goal in.
As for the Mariners Craig Goodwin tore them to shreds as he bagged two goals as well as an assist in the oppositions 3-0 victory. The defeat was at home as well making it all the more worse for the Mariners. They had 52% of the ball but that was about the only good thing to happen for them. They shot only two of their 12 shots on target while they gave away 17 fouls. Mike Mulvey’s side also won only 36 duels to Adelaide’s massive 36. The Mariners also managed 41 crosses, yet none of them could be capitalized on.
What Should Happen: Two on the trot for the Victory. The Mariners started of their season okay but have dropped of recently, that while Melbourne now have a win next to their name. The Usain Bolt saga has clearly affected the side, if only a little bit and expect that to still linger around as the Victory hunt another win over the Mariners. History here also plays a massive part as Melbourne have won 11 of their past 14 matches against the CCM. And the other three were draws. No surprises here in a Melbourne win.
Betting tip: Pick Melbourne to win at $1.45 (UniBet, Sportsbet)
Also pick Melbourne to score first at $1.30 (Bet365)
Best Bet of the Round
My favourite/best bet is for MEL to beat the CCM AT $1.45 (UniBet, Sportsbet), past history plays a massive part here!