The following are previews with betting tips for Round 2 of the 2019/20 A-League season.
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Friday, October 18
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Melbourne Victory v Western Sydney Wanderers7:30 PM AEDT, Marvel Stadium |
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Melbourne drew blanks in the first Derby of the season as they drew with City, 0-all. Kambosa had a goal ruled out by VAR, but attacking-wise, the Victory were pretty poor as they managed just one shot on target from six attempts throughout the entire match. City on the other-hand were by far the more dominant side as they shot 4/17 on target and at least scared Marco Kurz’s men a bit. The Victory had 51% of the ball and had two blocked shots. 79% Of their passes were completed, 381/484. They also won 60 duels and 18 aerial duels vs City’s 48 and 15 respectively. They also conceded just six fouls and one yellow in comparison to the oppositions, 16 and three. Toivonen and Nabbout, the Victory’s two main attacking threats need to conjour up something against a high-flying Wanderers side, because 0-0 simply isn’t good enough for a club of Victory’s stature and ambitions.
Duke scored one in the 41st minute and then completed his double with a penalty in the 82nd minute of the match. He handed his side a late, enthralling and first ever win at Bankwest Stadium as his side beat the Mariners 2-1. It was a frantic affair and one in which should have really ended in a point for either side. The Wanderers, despite only having 44% possession, shot a very good 7/12 on target. They completed just 76% of their passes, 297/393. They won just 50 duels to the Mariners 75. And they won just 14 aerial duels to their 20. Something they’ll need to definitely fix up in preparation for the Victory. They also gave away 12 fouls and were perhaps slightly sloppy in that regard.
Past history: Melbourne have won eight of their past 10 matches against Western Sydney. With the other two being draws. In the last match a 22nd minute Toivonen goal was all that separated the two sides.
Betting tip: Pick the Victory to win at $1.83 (Sportsbet)
Also pick them to score the first goal at $1.50 (Bet365)
Saturday, October 19
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Western United v Perth Glory5:15 PM AEDT, GMHBA Stadium |
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They played over 100 minutes vs the Phoenix, but they got the job done as they won 1-0 away from home. Rudan was facing his former side. As was Durante, Burgess and Kurto. Appiah too. But despite all the news and hysterics coming into this hotly anticipated clash, they delivered on the biggest stage when they needed to the most in their first ever official A-League game. Of course it was Berisha who delivered their maiden goal in the 34th minute of the game! Who else? Western United shot a nice 6/16 to go on target along with their two blocked shots. They also had 46% possession of the ball throughout the game. 82%, a very nice percentage of their passes were completed, 402/489. They also conceded just the nine fouls and the one yellow card. Wellington pressed them right up until the very end, but they stood strong as they delivered the impressive performance.
Perth thought they had sealed the result with a Ikonimidis goal coming in the 34th minute of the match. But O’Donovan was looming and he scored a cheeky 95th minute equaliser. Perth shot just 2/6 on target in what was a rather poor effort from them. And they held just 45% of the ball throughout the match to compound that as well. They completed 80% of their passes and were successful in making 17 tackles. They could’ve held on for the win, but in the end it was just too much for them to handle.
Berisha vs Fornaroli will be a key battle here and one that both sets of fans will be salivating over. Berisha opened Western United’s account for this season, while Fornaroli won’t want to be scoreless to much longer with his new side. This should be a close match and a goal from either star-man could well decide the result. Berisha is ageing, but Fornaroli had been out of action for a long period of time before joining the Glory. So while both have their various ailments, They are too good to just look over or pass up. They can still both be critical to games fortunes late in matches and whoever wins the battle here, will go a long way towards winning the three points for their team.
Betting tip: Pick both teams to find the back of the net at $1.65 (Topbetta)
Also pick the total goals to be at 4+ at $3.00 (Topbetta)
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Central Coast Mariners v Newcastle Jets7:30 PM AEDT, Central Coast Stadium |
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F3 Derby, HERE WE GO! These two sides love a fight. And in the Mariners final four clash against Adelaide recently, Lawrie McKinna, current Jets CEO and former Mayor of Gosford, left a cheeky banner in the stands saying that the Jets were a class above the Mariners. It was there for a long time before it was taken down and there is quite obviously no love lost between these two teams.
Past history: When these two sides last faced off, the Mariners claimed the crazy upset result, which resulted in a 3-2 victory to them. Murray, Karacan and Pain were their goal-scorers that day. The Jets ones were O’Donovan and Vargas. The Jets gave this one up despite having 66% possession and 24 shots at the Mariners goals. They’ll for sure be looking for their revenge victory in this encounter.
An 82nd minute penalty is what lost the Mariners a potential point in the A-League’s first ever match at Bankwest Stadium. The penalty was given after it was adjudicated by the VAR that Dylan Fox committed a hand-ball offence in the penalty area. It was unfortunate for the Central Coast as they did well enough to earn a draw up until that point of the match. The Mariners actually owned 56% of the ball throughout the game and shot a respectable 4/10 shots on target. They also completed 81% of their passes and thoroughly out dueled the Wanderers. If they play this way against Newcastle, then they’ll give themselves every possible chance to win. This is a new look and a determined Mariners outfit, look out!
Betting tip: Pick the Mariners to come out on top in this F3 Derby at $4.75 (Bet365)
Also pick the 2nd half to be the highest scoring one at $2.00 (Topbetta)
Sunday, October 20
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Melbourne City v Adelaide United4:00 PM AEDT, AAMI Park |
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The Victory had a goal ruled out by VAR, but other then that their Derby was nothing to write home about as they drew 0-0. The game was seen as fairly bland and without many spectacular moments associated with a Melbourne Derby. However, this result continued City’s rich vein of form as they also recently reached the 2019 FFA Cup Final against Adelaide. City, unlike their opposition, actually had some intent to attack as they peppered the Victory’s goals with 17 shot attempts. However, only four of those were on target. They were sorely missing star striker Jamie Maclaren who was away on Soceroos duty. Had he played, City may have edged out the Victory 1 or 2-0. You just never know. And he will most definitely play a vital role in their match against Adelaide. Regardless of his presence on the game or not, his team mates need to step up and score in his absence. Adelaide conceded three last round so City will be hard-pressed to at least not bag 1 or 2 in depending on the strength of Adelaide’s defence.
A 22nd minute penalty opened the game and Strain saw red in the 57th minute of the game. Barbarouses was also denied a goal by VAR for the visitors. This game was as hectic and controversial as it was fast-paced as Adelaide somehow found a way to lose 3-2. It was exciting though, that’s for sure. Adelaide came back from 2-0 down as they scored some real good goals in quick succession. First it was to Mileusnic in the 44th minute and then to Toure again in the 51st minute. Adelaide shot just the 3/14 on target and despite all the stuff about the ref from this game, that is what severely hampered them and made it difficult for them to beat Sydney with.
Past history: Their last game was a finals game and it was a classic that went right down to the wire as Ben Halloran scored with one of the final few plays of the game. Actually the 119th minute to be exact! As somehow Adelaide advanced onto the next round of finals matches. That game, Adelaide had two shots hit the woodwork. They also gave away a high 18 fouls. Although City were worse with 24. That game had everything and hopefully so should this one too.
Betting tip: Pick City to come out on top at $2.20 (Topbetta)
Also pick them to score first at $1.66 (Bet365)
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Sydney FC v Wellington Phoenix6:00 PM AEDT, Leichhardt Oval |
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Sydney overcame a difficult encounter to eventually beat Adelaide 3-2. Le Fondre bagged a double while McGowan also bagged one against his home town city. Adelaide saw red via Ryan Strain while Kostas Barbarouses was denied what would’ve been his first official goal for the Sky Blues. It was a frantic and frenzic affair that had every Sydney supporter on the edge of his or her seats. The Sky Blues shot a very nice 8/14 on target and owned 47% of the ball throughout the match. They created four big chances and had four shots blocked. They did however, completed just 66% of their passes and they had just four corners to their name. 50 Duels is what they did come up tops in though, in addition to winning seven takeons. This was one hell of a match to open the new A-League season with.
The Nix played 100+ minutes of Football, but in Mark Rudan’s return to Wellington, they couldn’t quite hand their former gaffer an inaugural defeat. In the end they went down 1-0 to Western United. The boos were loud and clear for Rudan, Durante, Kurto and Burgess. And the atmosphere was summed up perfectly when Rudan walked by a sign saying, one thief, three traitors as he looked embarrassed and guilty. Hurting the Nix’s chances was the fact that they shot just 1 of 14 on target. A pretty dismal effort to be honest. They did complete a solid 87% of their passes though. 487/560. They also gave away just 11 fouls and one yellow card in another slight, but ultimately meaningless positive to come out of this game for them.
Past history: Sydney have won the past two encounters between these two sides 1-0. The past three matches before that have been a 3-1 win to the Phoenix, a 4-0 win to Sydney and a 4-1 victory to the Sky Blues. Adam Le Fondre scored the 65th minute winner last time out. Before that it was de Jong who scored the 25th minute winner.
Betting tip: Pick Sydney to win at $1.42 (Topbetta)
Also pick the first goal to be in-between the 1st and 10th minute of the match at $4.30 (Topbetta)
Best Bet of the Round
Pick Sydney to win at $1.42 (Topbetta)