The following are previews with betting tips for Round 6 of the 2018/19 A-League season.
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Friday, November 30
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Adelaide United v Brisbane Roar7:50 PM AEDT, Coopers Stadium |
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What’s Happened Most Recently: Adelaide posted a comprehensive 3-1 win over Wellington last round. Sound’s pretty easy then, right? Not exactly. The Phoenix opened the scoring in just the 14th minute of the game, while United’s first strike was via an own goal in the 45th minute. However two further Ken Ilso goals sealed all three points for Marco Kurz’s side. Adelaide had less of the ball than their opponents (49% vs 51%) and they had only slightly more shots on target (five vs four). However they found a way to get themselves back up to fourth spot in what was an encouraging bounce-back performance.
The 27th minute and the 66th minute was when Adam Taggart found the back of the net. Those were for his fourth and fifth goals of the season. That was in the process of helping to propel the Roar to their first win of the season over a lackluster City side. And Brisbane claimed the victory with only 36% possession of the ball. However in two negatives to take away from their match, they gave away a high 16 fouls and that was in addition to their poor passing accuracy of 67% (236/352). They now currently occupy a finals spot.
What Should Happen: The result of this game will be dependent on Adelaide’s defence. That being as in 10 total games this season, they’ve conceded only six goals. Or Adam Taggart’s ability to find the back of the net. As he has done so an impressive five times from five A-League games this campaign. And on the back of his double and Adelaide’s ability to overcome an early deficit and remain defensively astute, it’s game on. Whichever one does their thing better will claim all three points.
Betting tip: Pick Brisbane to be victorious at $4.00 (PalmerBet, Neds, Bet365)
Also pick Taggart to score at any time during the match at $6.40 (UniBet)
Saturday, December 1
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Central Coast Mariners v Sydney FC5:35 PM AEDT, Central Coast Stadium |
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What’s Happened Most Recently: So close, so close, so close! It was just plain unlucky for the Mariners as in a very spirited performance they went down 3-2 to the league leaders Perth. The opposition found their winner in the 95th minute while the Central Coasts own goals were courtesy of a Mrcela own-goal and a first Mariners goal from Aiden O’Neil. A Cisse red card in the 93rd minute of the game after he picked up his second yellow, however did influence the result just a tad. The Mariners were strong in defeat as they scored two goals and were in the game right until the end despite having just 38% possession.
As for the Sky Blues they were disappointing in their 2-1 loss to the Victory in the Big Blue. Their only goal of the game was through Adam Le Fondre’s fifth of the A-League campaign after he rebounded in his own missed penalty attempt, and a very controversial one at that. While the opposition later in the game also had a rather 50/50 call not acted upon. Sydney did however shoot the ball relatively well as 3/7 shots went on target. While they had a nice passing accuracy of 78% (407/521).
What Should Happen: A rebound Sydney victory. They’re too good and too strong to lose two on the trot. That especially considering they are coming up against the struggling Mariners. However given they pushed Perth all the way last round the onus will be on Sydney to get things going early so as not to led the Central Coast home crowd to work against them. Pick Sydney to score first and win, but in what could potentially be a tight affair.
Betting tip: Pick Sydney to be victorious at $1.67 (Sportsbet)
Also pick them to score first at $1.50 (Neds)
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Melbourne Victory v Western Sydney Wanderers7:50 PM AEDT, Marvel Stadium |
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What’s Happened Most Recently: The Victory continued their dominance on from last seasons semi-final as they again turned up against Sydney to the tune of a 3-1 win. The match had it’s moments as Sydney’s only goal was of the back of a maybe, maybe not penalty call. That while Kevin Muscat’s men had their own call ignored by the Referees. However Honda’s goal did come via a spot-kick while Ola Toivonen also got on the board with a goal. The Victory shot the ball very well as they landed five of their eight shots on target and they claimed all three points despite giving away 13 fouls.
Western Sydney continued their horribly inconsistent start to the season as they suffered an embarrassing 2-0 defeat to the previously last-placed Jets at home. The had no hesitation to fire away at the Jets goals as they took 18 shots. However their finishing left a lot to be desired as only five landed on target. However in some positives they won 60 duels to Newcastle’s 53 as well as 16 aerial duels to the Jets 13. Fouls wise though they were pretty rough as they gave away 14.
What Should Happen: A Melbourne win. Coming of the back of a 2-1 win and in the process second spot can only be a good thing for a side led by an AS influential player as Honda is. While the Red & Black are still picking up the pieces after they crumbled 2-0 against Newcastle. Expect Honda to have his say as he did against Sydney of the back of a goal as well as that, he won 11/14 duels and completed 81% of his passes. Expect him to run riot again against a struggling Wanderers side.
Betting tip: Pick the Victory to be victorious at $1.91 (PalmerBet, Sportsbet)
Also pick Melbourne to score last at $1.68 (Neds)
Sunday, December 2
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Wellington Phoenix v Perth Glory5:00 PM AEDT, Westpac Stadium |
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What’s Happened Most Recently: Second last place is where the Phoenix currently reside after they were man-handled 3-1 by Adelaide in New Zealand. Mandi set Wellington on the right track with a goal inside the games opening 15 minutes, however from there it was all one-way traffic as an un-fortunate Tom Doyle own-goal swung things back around in Adelaide’s favour. In a few notable statistics from the game, the Phoenix won more aerial duels than Adelaide (20 vs 15) and gave away less fouls then them (15 vs 19). Passing wise they were also very strong at 74% (280/380).
Ikonomidis again turned up when it mattered most as he scored a 95th minute winner to break the Mariners hearts. That was his second of the game as Shane Lowry also bagged one in the 3-2 victory. The result left the Glory in first place and four points ahead of the 2nd placed Victory. Perth dominated possession with 62%. However interestingly enough they only had three shots on target throughout the entire match. But they certainly made them count with their three goals. They were also very strong with their passes as they completed them at a high 84% clip (504/598).
What Should Happen: Perth currently reside in first place with four wins and a draw to start their season. This is in stark comparison to Wellington who are ninth and have only a single win and a draw to start their season of with. And history should be a bit of a factor here to with Perth winning five of their past eight games against Wellington. The last one was a 1-0 win where Diego Castro was the only goal-scorer. The Glory have been winning strong without him so if he plays even more minutes + his return from injury then the Phoenix are even more out of hope right?
Betting tip: Pick Perth to be victorious at $2.30 (Sportsbet)
Also pick Keogh to score any time against Wellington at $5.00 (UniBet)
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Melbourne City v Newcastle Jets7:00 PM AEDT, AAMI Park |
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What’s Happened Most Recently: Bruno Fornarolli was nor in the starting side or on the bench as he was reportedly dropped for reasons from fitness to him thinking he was bigger then the club. Well that pre-game dropping and media circulation certainly played out onto the field as City were thoroughly outclassed by Brisbane 2-0. That despite Melbourne attempting 12 shots and the Roars very small 36% possession. City also gave away only nine fouls to Brisbane’s 16 and had a way better passing completion percentage then them at 84% vs 67%. Encouraging signs, or at least somewhat to take into their next game.
Meanwhile the Jets got their first win of the season as they comprehensively outplayed the Wanderers in a 2-0 victory. Hoffman and Vargas were the goal-scorers as the Wanderers were uncomfortable on what was a shocking field to play a game of Football on and one that was later slammed by Jets coach Ernie Merrick. Anyway back to the Football and Newcastle were strong as they completed 81% of their attempted passes (330/407). The result left last seasons Grand Finalists just a point out of 6th spot.
What Should Happen: Newcastle going back to back. Even if Fornarolli returns this week, how will his team mates respond? They might not be all that happy with his seemingly ‘lazy’ approach to the club and it’s not the first time this has happened either during his City tenure. All this mind affecting stuff going on can only play into the Jets hands as they seek to further redeem themselves and move further up the table.
Betting tip: Pick the Jets to be victorious at $4.15 (Neds)
Also pick them to score first at $2.60 (Neds, Bet365)
Best Bet of the Round
My favourite/best bet of the round is for SYD to beat the CCM at $1.67 (Sportsbet), a rebound win simply has to be on the cards for Steve Corica’s men!