The following are previews with betting tips for Round 5 of the 2019/20 A-League season.
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Friday, November 8
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Melbourne City v Central Coast Mariners7:30 PM AEDT, AAMI Park |
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Craig Noone scored in the 63rd minute of his sides extremely controversial, 3-2 win over Wellington. His penalty, in the one goal win, came after VAR had ruled a Louis Fenton hand-ball inside the box. And the call has divided fans alike, as to whether or not, it was in-fact a penalty. City’s other goal-scorers were Metcalfe in the 30th minute and Scott Galloway in the 34th minute. City dominated the match with 61% possession of the ball and having shot eight of their 16 attempted shots on target. As a result of the tight victory, they are now in 1st place with 10 points.
The Mariners, well the Mariners were absolute guns last round, as they upset the Glory to the tune of a 2-1 score-line, and in Perth at that! De Silva scored the Mariners opening goal in the 17th minute of the match. And then Silvera, the name on every fans lips at the moment, scored an absolute ripper of a goal in the 45th minute. Just around the box, he stole the ball of the Glory man, in a 1 on 1 strip, he then proceeded to kick it low into the further corner past Liam Reddy. It was an absolute solo stunner, that’s for sure. The Central Coast to their credit claimed the three points, despite having just 39% of the ball, and shooting only 3/9 on target. They are now inside the Top Six for the first time in many, many games.
Past History- The last match these two sides played against one another, City routed them, 5-0. That day, Harrison bagged a double, McGree got one, Vidosic got one, as did Najjarine. Melbourne had 58% possession, compared to the Mariners 42%. They also shot a nice 6/11 on target. The Central Coast were kept to just 2/8. And overall, Melbourne have beaten the Mariners in eight of their past 12 matches. That game was at AAMI Park, and the last one at AAMI before then, was also a City victory, 1-0. That match, Fornaroli scored the games solitary goal in the 49th minute.
Betting tip: Pick City to win at $1.72 (Sportsbet)
Also pick them to score the first goal at $1.50 (Beteasy)
Saturday, November 9
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Newcastle Jets v Perth Glory5:00 PM AEDT, McDonald Jones Stadium |
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Newcastle couldn’t do much damage as they were smashed 4-1 by the reigning champs in Sydney. Ninkovic struck first for the hosts in just the 6th minute of the game. And Millar had one back in 9th minute. But after that, it was a Sky Blue onslaught. And Ernie Merrick’s men were powerless to stop it. The Jets did however, shoot a respectable 4/9 on target, despite having just 40% possession. They did threaten to really break through the Sky Blues, late in the 2nd half. And that’s some positive momentum that they can carry into their game against a struggling-to-some-extent Glory side. Perth have won just one match this season and the Jets none. But given Newcastle’s intentions to stay in touch with an early finals spot and the fact that it’s in Newcastle. Could we see an upset victory here?
Former Perth boy, Danny De Silva came up big against his former side, as the Glory suffered a shock, upset, 2-1 loss to the Mariners. De Silva scored first against his old side with a nice goal. And the Glory couldn’t get one back, until the 32nd minute through Franjic. The Glory owned 61% of the ball throughout the match, and they also fired freely at the Mariners defence with 18 attempted shots to their name. Although they weren’t very clinical with them, as just six of them landed on target. The Glory now sit just a point inside of the Top Six (five). A defeat here and they could fall out of it very, very quickly. Something that would be incredibly concerning this early for last seasons runner-ups.
Past History- The Glory have an absolute damming history over the Jets. They have beaten them an incredible 18 times out of the past 23 games in which they’ve faced of against one-another! Wow, just wow! However, when they last played, the Glory only just prevailed 1-0. That was courtesy of a 65th minute Franjic goal. There was a combined 30 shots taken that game, and a combined 12 of them landed on target. Both Perth and Newcastle also had a shot each come of the woodwork. With Fornaroli, Ikonimidis and Castro featuring for the Glory. And Petratos, Arroyo and Hoffman the A-League veteran all in Newcastle’s colors, will we see a free-flowing, attacking game again? Let’s certainly hope so.
Betting tip: Pick Newcastle to claim the shock victory at $3.60 (Sportsbet)
Also pick both teams to score at $1.57 (Bet365)
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Western United v Western Sydney Wanderers7:30 PM AEDT, GMHBA Stadium |
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Two-nil down by the 7th minute against the Victory, things were looking very, very ugly for Western United. However, by just the 29th minute, via Diamanti and a Donachie OG, WU were level at 2-2. Come the 51st minute, McDonald scored a screamer, and Mark Rudan’s side beat their arch-rivals Victory, 3-2. What an impressive, come-from-behind effort, it was from the new boys. All the credit to them. They had 52% possession and shot a respectable 4/10 on target. They also more impressively, kept Melbourne to just 3/16 on target. WU’s attacking exploits, also saw them have a shot come of the woodwork. As well as that, they also completed a very nice 84% of their passes, 429/513. They are now 4th with seven points and only a single win of 1st spot on the ladder.
0-0 Was the score when the Wanderers battled against Brisbane last round. It was the game of missed chances as both sides had legitimate scoring chances, that if taken advantage of, could’ve easily won their sides the match. Western Sydney shot 4/10 on target, and the Roar were 7/18. Outside of that, it was the visiting Brisbane side who had the better of the possession in the match at 57%. Western Sydney were kept to only 43%. WSW also completed a good 80% of their passes, 340/425. They did concede a big, big 23 fouls though! The Wanderers are equal first and look to be in no danger of falling out of the Top Six.
Past History- These sides are yet to play one another in an official capacity. But it’s sure to be a roaring game. As WU win more and more and move further and further up the ladder, the more fans will come to watch them play. Outside of that, it’s a 1st vs 4th battle on the table. Kurto vs Lopar will be key in this game, given the wealth of attacking options that both teams will have at their disposal. And Rudan vs Babbel on the side-lines will be another cracker, as both men will be key to their sides gaining a decisive victory and advantage over the other. These two sides are playing extremely good Football this season and their history against one another starts right here!
Betting tip: Pick Western United to be victorious at $2.10 (Beteasy)
Also pick the 2nd half to be the highest scoring one at $2.03 (Beteasy)
Sunday, November 10
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Melbourne Victory v Wellington Phoenix4:00 PM AEDT, AAMI Park |
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Toivonen scored first in just the 6th minute of the game. Dobras scored the second, just one minute later. And by the 15th minute, they were still up, 2-0. The 16th minute saw them up, 2-1, after Diamanti scored for the opposition. And in the 29th minute, a Donachie OG saw the scores locked up at two goals a piece. And then in the 51st minute, the un-thinkable happened. Scott McDonald scored what proved to be the winner in the three-two defeat. And just like that, the Victory blew a 2-0 lead to claim absolutely no points at all. Despite having only 48% of the ball, the Victory still shot 16 shots at Western United’s defence. Not so impressive though was their on target rate. Only three went on target, and that was both a massive and crucial reason as to why they lost the match. The Victory are currently outside of the Top Six, and they need a win to move back inside of it. If that’ll even do the trick depending on other results.
The luckless Phoenix are still searching for their first win of the season after they were very hard done by in their 3-2 loss to City last round. Fenton was called for a hand-ball by the VAR, which resulted in a converted Melbourne spot-kick. Although replays showed that it didn’t really look like it hit his arm. And he blew up after the game in an extremely short post-match interview with Archie Thompson. Fenton knew it was the wrong call and it cost his side the match and three points. And he let the A-League world know about it, that’s for sure. Hooper scored his first goal in Nix colors in the 24th minute. And Waine also scored a 93rd minute consolation goal for Wellington.
Past History- The last match these two sides faced of in, resulted in a 3-1 Victory win. And it was the game that booted Wellington out of the first week of the finals. Many will remember it as Roy Krishna’s final game for Wellington, as well as Mark Rudan’s final game in charge of the club. Kopczynski saw red in the 93rd minute for the Nix, but it didn’t really matter, as at that point, the game was already dead and buried. And the past three games between that, have all been draws. There’s been two, 1-all draws. And a three, three draw. In the three-three draw. Toivonen, Troisi and Barbarouses all got on the score-sheet for the Victory. And for the Nix, Krishna bagged two and Williams one.
Betting tip: Pick Wellington to claim their first victory of the season at $4.33 (Sportsbet)
Also pick the Nix to score first at $2.56 (Beteasy)
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Adelaide United v Brisbane Roar6:00 PM AEDT, Coopers Stadium |
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Adelaide had the bye last round and before that it was a good 2-1 win over the Jets. Adelaide fell behind in the 37th minute via a Jets goal. But McGree scored twice, once in the 49th minute and then again in the 61st to seal the win. Adelaide won despite only owning 45% of the ball. They did shoot a respectable 4/12 on target though. However, Newcastle had eight on target. And they did very well indeed to withhold a strong Jets attack that fired away at Adelaide’s defensive lines with 18 shots at goal. Considering Adelaide played this game of the back of their mid-week FFA Cup victory against City, the win was even more impressive. They are currently just one point out of the Top Six, but in 8th place.
Brisbane squandered a lot of chances, 18 to be exact, in their scrappy 0-0 draw vs the Wanderers. They shot 7/18 on target, and had 57% possession, but it wasn’t enough for them to find a way past Lopar and the Wanderers defence. Brisbane completed a good 84% of their passes, 467/555. And they conceded just the 10 fouls as well. Besides their woeful shooting, it was a decent effort from the Roar. However, they are currently outside of the Top Six, and in turn, a finals berth. Robbie Fowler surely must see this game as a win-only opportunity for his victory-less Roar side. Especially so considering their opposition, Adelaide themselves, are a bit shaky/up and down so far this season.
Betting tip: Pick Brisbane to win at $3.70 (Unibet)
Also pick the 2nd half to be the highest scoring one at $2.00 (Beteasy)
Best Bet of the Round
Pick Newcastle to claim the shock victory at $3.60 (Sportsbet)
Also pick both teams to score at $1.57 (Bet365) in NEW vs PER