A-League Round 10: Preview and Betting Tips

The following are previews with betting tips for Round 10 of the 2018/19 A-League season.

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Friday, December 28

Melbourne Victory v Wellington Phoenix 7:50 PM AEDT, AAMI Park View a detailed form guide for Victory v Wellington

Last Round: The Victory claimed a hard-earned point in a 1-all draw against City, while the Phoenix continued their rise up the ladder with a 4-1 thrashing of Brisbane. Melbourne’s goal came via Toivonen in the 55th minute as he continued his fine run of form. However shooting wise the Victory were very off as only 2/7 shots landed on target. However contrary to that their passing was spot on with an 81% completion rate (447/550). As well as that they gave away only 15 fouls to City’s 10 in what you can only describe as a rather disciplined Derby. The Victory are in 2nd spot as of currently.

While for Wellington, a Brisbane OG, a deep strike to Williams, a fifth goal of the season to Krishna and one to Singh saw them destroy the hapless Roar at home. It was a fine win as Mark Rudan’s men now sit only three points of 3rd place. They dominated with 56% of the ball as well as shooting 6/14 shots on target. They also completed a nice 78% of their passes (321/411), won 16 more duels then Brisbane and gave away nine less fouls then them as well. Wellington are doing very, very well this season and are making the FFA’s decision not to hand them a longer licence look like an absolute joke.

This Round: This will 1000 times over be a very interesting game to watch. The Victory are coming of a tough, tough game against City. That while Wellington have been on a little bit of a roll recently winning their past three games in a row. In addition to that there’s also the attacking instincts and flare of Toivonen and Barbarouses coming up against Krishna and Singh. While if Honda returns from injury then it’s even more so. In addition to these two factors, the past two games between these sides have resulted in a 2-1 victory once each. And both winners have come in the 83rd minute or later. With all things considered expect this to be a close, tight game that could very well be the match of the round.

Betting tip: Pick Wellington to claim the upset victory at $7.00 (Sportsbet)

Also pick both teams to score at $1.70 (Bet365)

 

Saturday, December 29

Sydney FC v Brisbane Roar 7:50 PM AEDT, Jubilee Stadium View a detailed form guide for Sydney v Brisbane

Last Round: Adam Le Fondre and Daniel De Silva secured Sydney the goodies and in the process handed Perth their first defeat of the season in what was a 2-1 victory. Although it wasn’t without it’s controversy as a supposed ‘foul’ on Andrew Redmayne meant Santalab’s goal against Sydney was denied in the dying seconds of the match. Regardless the Sky Blues did very well to win given they had only 42% possession. They shot a very nice five of their eight shots on target. And they also completed 80% (338/425) of their passes as well. It’s pretty safe to say they’ve bounced back as they currently sit in 3rd place after this victory and a demolition job on the Wanderers in the round prior to this.

As for Brisbane, if it weren’t for the slightly more shocking Mariners they would be last. They got hammered by a strong Phoenix side 4-1 over in New Zealand as it continued to go from bad to worse for the Roar. Adam Taggart wouldn’t have been able to score if he was right in front of goal, while the defending would have given a blind man a chance at creating something! They were simply terrible to put it lightly. Their only goal came via the Slippery Fish. They also conceded 22 fouls and completed only 69% of their passes.

This Round: It’s the Sky Blues facing an absolutely all-time low Brisbane side. This game shouldn’t be close and won’t be. Sydney should easily beat John Aloisi’s c**p side by at least, at least two goals, if not more. This is the game where Le Fondre (seven goals this campaign), Brosque (three goals this season) and Ninkovic (three assists so far) should all shine and help wreak havoc on the comp’s second worst side. Plus they have won 2/3 past games against Brisbane which helps a little bit as well.

Betting tip: Pick Sydney to win at $1.55 (Neds)

Also pick Sydney to score first at $1.48 (Neds)

 

Sunday, December 30

Newcastle Jets v Adelaide United 7:00 PM AEDT, McDonald Jones Stadium View a detailed form guide for Newcastle v Adelaide

Last Round: They had to come from behind, but they did it as they claimed a fourth straight F3 Derby win with an intense 2-1 victory over the Mariners. They were down 1-0 heading into the 66th minute of the match, but then Jason Hoffman did what he does by scoring to lock up the scores. And then the powers of marquee man Vargas came to light in the 82nd minute as he secured the Jets all three points with his goal. The Jets were pretty trigger happy as they took 18 shots at goal and were always looking to break through the Mariners fragile defence. As a result of the win, Newcastle now sit only a win of fourth place and are slowly but surely getting back to the form that made them Grand Finalists last campaign.

While for Adelaide they are yet to feature this round, however their last game was a sorry effort in their 2-0 defeat to City. A 25th minute Elsey OG gave the opposition the lead and then a 50th minute Luke Brattan strike secured all three points for Adelaide. Adelaide were left to rue their shooting as they managed to land only two of their seven shots on target. Discipline wise they were very solid as they leaked only 10 fouls and had only one yellow given to them the entire game. And passing wise it was a good aspect to take from their defeat as they converted 83% (462/558) of them. Adelaide are now in danger of dropping out of the Top Six and need to make some changes pretty quickly or risk not holding a finals spot.

This Round: The Jets are in form and are playing like a Grand Final team again. They have won three of their past five games and in those three wins have scored two goals a piece. And of those six victorious goals, there have been four different goal-scorers! Ernie Merrick’s men are impressing and in addition to that, the more game-time Roy O’Donovan can get under his belt the stronger and more potent they will become. This won’t be an easy game by Marco Kurz’s men have been struggling a little bit recently and the Jets should have enough in them to get it done.

Betting tip: Pick Newcastle to be victorious at $2.50 (Neds, Bet365, BlueBet, PalmerBet, Sportsbet)

Also pick Newcastle to score first at $1.95 (Neds)

 

Monday, December 31

Central Coast Mariners v Perth Glory 7:00 PM AEDT, Central Coast Stadium View a detailed form guide for Central Coast v Perth

Last Round: 7/9 matches the Mariners have lost this campaign. Their other two games were two draws. So from a possible 27 points this season they have staked their claim on two! TWO! Or as per the massive banner in the Mariners supporter bay, it was prior to that game 303 days without a win, 304 after the loss. Had Connor Pain converted a good 1 on 1 chance with the Mariners up 1-0 the score could have been entirely different. But he fluffed it. And they lost. Matt Simon, the captain, opened the scoring for the Gosford based side, but the positives were far and few between for them when you base it on their entire campaign to date. The Mariners also gave away 20 fouls and four yellows just to compound their misery in what was their fourth straight F3 Derby defeat.

Perth meanwhile were handed their first loss of the season as they went down 2-1 to Sydney. However possibly rightly so the Glory would be crying foul after Santalab was denied the chance to haunt them with different stripes on as his late, late goal was disallowed because of a light foul on Andrew Redmayne. Previously Ikonomidis had scored yet another late goal (90th minute) to bring the margin back to one goal. However it wasn’t to be as the Glory were beaten for yet another successive game by the Sky Blues. However the Glory are still the team to beat this season and sit on top with a very, very good 20 points.

This Round: In their past two encounters Perth have put three goals on the Mariners each time. While five times this season the Glory have scored two+ goals in a match. Coming up against the Mariners that have conceded 20 goals from only nine games this will get very, very ugly. Keogh, Castro and Ikonomidis should all run riot against Mike Mulvey’s struggling men and from the get-go the Mariners will be struggling to keep up with Tony Popovic’s side. Simply put this game will be embarrassing for the Mariners who are dead-last. But at least for Perth they’; be claiming a nice rebound win.

Betting tip: Pick Perth to be victorious at $1.68 (Neds)

Also pick only the Glory to find the back of the net at $2.02 (UniBet)

 

Tuesday, January 1

Western Sydney Wanderers v Melbourne City 7:50 PM AEDT, ANZ Stadium View a detailed form guide for Western Sydney v City

Last Round: While Western Sydney are yet to feature this round, their last game as we all know was a crazy, weather-affected loss to Sydney in the Derby. However the Sky Blues had to play in the exact same conditions as them so that’s no excuse for the simply this campaign c**p Wanderers. And to make matters worse for them, as a result of Janjetovic’s brain-fade red they will not have him in the line-up to face a deadly City attack. So far from eight game the Wanderers have only two victories next to their name. And in the post Tony Popovic era they are seriously struggling. Riera scored the Wanders only goal against Sydney and the magician who has already found the back of the net four times this season will have to be on point against a jubilant City side if they wish to claim any sort of result.

That same jubilant City side claimed a dramatic Derby 1-all draw against Melbourne via a 92nd minute Dario Vidosic goal. It was a great come from behind result as Warren Joyce’s men proved they don’t need a supposedly ‘arrogant’ Bruno Fornarolli to match it with the biggest teams in the A-League. Vidosic was calm and composed as he headed in the ball to help City into fourth spot. It was much needed for them and City are starting to look like quite a threatening side without their marquee name in tow. And if he settles it out with Joyce or he gets replaced then the rest of the competition needs to look out!

This Round: City, City, City. They should be too good and too strong for the Wanderers to handle. Melbourne are gunning for a Top Two spot while the Wanderers are just trying to scrape into the Top Six. That’s the massive difference between the two sides so far this campaign. And it wasn’t all that long ago that City were flexing after a convincing 3-0 over the Wanderers. Warren Joyce’s side will be highly motivated in this match so that they can move even further up the ladder. And they will have passion and pure-will in their favour after Vidosic’s late equalizer.

Betting tip: Pick City to win at $2.70 (Bet365, UniBet, Neds)

Also pick both teams to find the back of the net at $1.75 (Bet365, Neds, Ladbrokes)

Best Bet of the Round

My favourite/ best bet of the round is for Perth to be victorious at $1.68 (Neds), there’s absolutely no way the top dogs will lose to the A-Leagues whipping boys!!!