The following are previews with betting tips for Round 5 of the 2018/19 A-League season.
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Friday, November 23
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Western Sydney Wanderers v Newcastle Jets7:50 PM AEDT, Spotless Stadium |
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What’s Happened Most Recently: Riera struck twice in both the 10th and 17th minutes of the match against Brisbane and it looked like the Wanderers would be handing Brisbane a hiding. However a strong comeback from the Roar ensured that the spoils would be shared in a 2-all draw in a disappointing result for the Red & Black. Those goals now mean that Riera is only one behind Le Fondre and Keogh for the title of the A-League’s top goal-scorer this season. Despite giving away a potential three points Western Sydney still shot a sold 5/14 shots on target in addition to giving away two yellow cards (vs the Roar’s three).
Nick Cowburn!!! He salvaged a point for the Jets, he really did. He scored the equalizer in the 87th minute of a Petratos cross to send the Newcastle crowd into raptures. This was of a thoroughly dominant second-half from the hosts and in the end they deserved the result fair and square. While it’s quite gutsy that Ernie Merrick’s side claimed a point given that 3/13 shots landed on target and that they were forced to make 19 tackles in addition to giving away 17 fouls. That considerably more then Sydney’s 11.
What Should Happen: The last time these two teams clashed, it ended up in a 2-all draw at Spotless Stadium. The same venue for this game and another thing you can expect similar is the result. While the Jets have been considerably struggling this season, they showed in the second-half of their match against Sydney that they still have a lot of fight left in them. While Western Sydney have been rather inconsistent with with one win, two draws and a loss next to their name. Put the two together and you get an exciting draw.
Betting tip: Pick the draw to be the result at $3.60 (Neds, Bet365)
Also pick the Wanderers to score first at $1.80 (Neds)
Saturday, November 24
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Wellington Phoenix v Adelaide United5:35 PM AEDT, Westpac Stadium |
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What’s Happened Most Recently: Wellington were never really in the game in their sorry 2-0 defeat to City. They were already down a goal within the opening 10 minutes of the match and another strike from Melbourne just before the 60 minute mark sealed the result for the opposition. The Phoenix were just pure awful with their shooting as they had only five shots on the evening and only one ended up on target. That’s compared to City who saw 8/14 strikes land on target. Their opponents also forced them to make 21 tackles, while City had to make only 15 themselves. Overall it was not a very positive night for Mark Rudan’s men.
While for Adelaide they suffered their first loss of the season as they went down 2-0 to Adelaide. Heading into the 90th minute the game was still in the balance with Adelaide only down 1-0, however another Perth goal sealed the result for the Glory and consigned Adelaide to 6th spot on the ladder. That being a disappointing position for the reigning FFA Cup champions. Adelaide had 61% of the ball! And yet somehow still couldn’t claim a point. While their shooting was horrendous putting 1/12 on target.
What Should Happen: A rebound Adelaide victory. Before their outlier loss to Perth, Marco Kurz’s men had previously drawn with Sydney, drawn with Newcastle (both sides two of the top three teams last season) and thrashed the Mariners 3-0, in addition to winning a cup final. With Craig Goodwin on their side, as well as a nasty defence a bounce-back win is definitely in the works. Especially considering the Phoenix now have a GD of -4.
Betting tip: Pick Adelaide to be victorious at $2.10 (Sportsbet)
Also pick them to be the only team to score at $2.23 (UniBet)
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Brisbane Roar v Melbourne City7:50 PM AEDT, Suncorp Stadium |
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What’s Happened Most Recently: The Roar were shocking, going down 2-0 within the opening 17 minutes of their game against Western Sydney, then they were awesome, coming away from the match with a point in a 2-all draw. It really was a tale of two halves for John Alosi’s side. Alex Lopez got his maiden Brisbane goal in the 37th minute. And then Adam Taggart claimed his third of the season to start of the second-half. The Roar had six of their shots blocked, while three of the Wanderers shots came of the post, maybe a bit lucky to get a point perhaps? And passing wise Brisbane were on point with a 79% completion rate, 337/425.
While for City they were very dominant in their 2-0 victory against the Phoenix. De Laet opened the scoring in only the 9th minute for Melbourne, before Fornarolli claimed his first goal of the new campaign in the 59th minute sealing the result for Warren Joyce’s team. City had 57% of the ball and shot eight of their 14 shots on target. They also completed 84% of their passes, 439/524. While they gave away less fouls, 13 vs 15 and yellow cards, 2 vs 3 then their opponents. Overall it was an awesome performance from the sky blue side of Melbourne.
What Should Happen: More disappointment for Brisbane. So far this campaign from four games Brisbane have three draws and a loss, not exactly the start they would have hoped for. Especially so considering they’ve faced lowly sides such as the Wanderers, Phoenix and Mariners. And coming up against City it simply won’t get any easier for them. Barring their result against Sydney they have five goals from three games and a variety of different players who can hurt them up front including De Laet, Fornarolli, Vidosic and now Wales given his earning starting berth/s. Expect a City victory.
Betting tip: Pick City to be victorious at $2.37 (Sportsbet)
Also pick both teams to find the back of the net at $1.66 (Bet365)
Sunday, November 25
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Sydney FC v Melbourne Victory5:00 PM AEDT, Jubilee Stadium |
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What’s Happened Most Recently: ‘The Bearded One’ aka Alex Brosque had given Sydney the lead for the majority of the game after his goal. However in the 87th minute after a long period of sustained pressure Nick Cowburn claimed the strike handing the Jets a goal and in the process cosigning Sydney to a 1-all draw. Sydney dropped to second on the ladder as a result, behind Perth. The Sky Blues couldn’t muster up many shots against the Jets but at least they were smart with the ones they did as they shot 3/5 on target. They were also very accurate passing wise completing 78% of their attempted ones, 400/511. They were also very disciplined compared to Newcastle giving away only 11 fouls to their 17.
The Victory ran riot in their game against the Mariners as they thrashed them 4-1. Honda, Troisi, Brown and Hope all got on the score-sheet in the rout. With the first two goals coming within the 30-35 minute mark of the game. The Victory had 53% possession while they fired away taking 17 shots against the Mariners and they saw an impressive nine of them land on target. However they also allowed the Mariners to take 16 vs them as well. Fouls wise Melbourne were very smart as they conceded only 10. That being compared to the CCM who gave away 19!
What Should Happen: Revenge, revenge, revenge. Any A-League fan knows of the damage Terry Antonis did to the entire Sky Blue fan base last season, ending Sydney’s hopes of back to back Grand Final wins. Every Sky Blue player will know about this and will be wanting to no doubt flip the script for this game. Expect Sydney to score first to settle the nerves early. This should give them all the confidence they need to then go on and win the game, especially playing in front of a packed-in home crowd.
Betting tip: Pick Sydney to be victorious at $2.10 (Sportsbet)
Also pick both teams to score at $1.75 (Bet365)
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Perth Glory v Central Coast Mariners7:00 PM AEDT, nib Stadium |
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What’s Happened Most Recently: Keogh (again) and Ikonomidis (again) both found the back of the net as the Glory handed Adelaide their first loss of the season in a 2-0 victory. Strangely Perth had only 39% of the ball but it didn’t really matter as they still found ways through Adelaide’s normally stout defence. The Glory managed to put 5/13 shots on target while they also had a shot come of the woodwork. They also completed 78% of their passes, 280/357. And they were forced to make considerably less tackles then their opponents, 11 vs 20. The victory left them on 10 competition points and in first place, two ahead of the closest placed Sydney.
The Mariners meanwhile were just sorry in their 4-1 thrashing to the Victory. The Mariners only goal came through Mario Shabow in the 62nd minute of the game. And despite the score-line, the Mariners still managed to have 47% possession. While they also took 16 shots, but only a sad five of them landed on target. Passing however was a decent aspect of their game as they managed to complete 76% of theirs, 354/467. However overall it was not a good night from the Mariners and they ended the round in last place with a GD of -6.
What Should Happen: A Perth win backed by at least one Andy Keogh goal. He has four already this season and is on absolute fire. Expect him to continue that against a Mariners side that have an average defence on one of their ‘best’ days. This game could get very, very ugly and given some of these sides past results, it probably will. Expect Perth to score at least three in what should be a fairly comfortable victory for them.
Betting tip: Pick Perth to win at $1.67 (Sportsbet)
Also pick them to score first at $1.48 (Neds)
Best Bet of the Round
My favourite/best bet of the round is for PER to score first vs the CCM at $1.48 (Neds), with all the fire power they posses, no other result is possible!