A-League Opening Weekend- Previews and Betting Tips

The following are previews with betting tips for the first weekend of the “27 in 28” round of the 2019/20 A-League season.

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Friday, July 17

Sydney FC v Wellington Phoenix 7:30 PM AEST, Netstrata Jubilee Stadium View a detailed form guide for Sydney v Wellington

Sydney- Sydney are comfortably sitting in 1^st place at the moment, with 48 points and 15 wins to their name. They are 8 points ahead of 2^nd placed City, with 3 extra matches in hand over them. The Minor Premiership is theirs to lose. Before COVID interrupted the season, their latest match was a 1-1 draw with the Wanderers at Bankwest. Le Fondre bagged the opening goal in the 35^th minute. That was before Yeboah scored the late 82^nd minute equalizer for the home-side. The Sky Blues completed a solid 85% of their passes in that one. That being good for 457/540. Before that they drew blanks in their nil-all draw against Perth. They shot just 4/13 on target throughout the match. They are a bit rusty, but they should still be the favourites headed into this one.

Wellington- They are in NSW and in a completely different country, but that won’t rattle the Phoenix, who are ready to win their maiden Premiership away from the comforts of Westpac Stadium. Currently they are in 3^rd place on 36 points, just 4 of 2^nd place. They have 11 wins and are playing awesome Football. Their latest victory was a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Melbourne Victory. Davila scored first in just the 3^rd minute of the match, then Hooper found gold in the 21^st minute and Ball put the icing on the cake in the 55^th minute. That 3^rd minute effort was Davila’s 11^th of the campaign. They shot a good 5/10 on target and completed 87% of their passes. That was good for 430/497. The Nix are a definite underdog to take it all out this year. And I would say 2^nd behind only Sydney. Could this be a potential Grand Final preview?

What Should Happen- A preview of the Grand Final. Expect a high quality, entertaining, yet also somewhat ferocious game of Football to occur right here. On one hand you have Sydney, the classiest team going around in Australia. Then on the other hand you have Wellington, a team that is aiming to make history led by former Chelsea FC player Davila. A man who has 11 goals and 5 assists this season. Sydney have an 8-point gap at the top of the table and the Phoenix have won their past 4 matches. We’re in for a real treat here.

Betting tips: Pick Sydney to be victorious at $1.65 (BetEasy)

Also pick them to score first at $1.44 (Bet365)

And pick both teams to find the back of the net at $1.75 (Bet365)

 

Saturday, July 18

Perth Glory v Central Coast Mariners 5:00 PM AEST, Central Coast Stadium View a detailed form guide for Perth v Central Coast

Perth- Before COVID put a hold on the campaign, Perth had 2 losses and 2 draws to their name. They were playing some inconsistent Football, as they struggle to hold down a finals spot. They are just 5 points of dropping out of the Top 6 entirely. Their latest efforts were a 0-0 draw against Sydney. This match saw them shoot just 1/9 on target! Yep 1/9! They also gave away 17 fouls and conceded 9 corners. In their attempts to prove themselves against the A-League’s best, they failed rather miserably! This was not a good game from Tony Popovic’s men. But they are playing the lowly Mariners and with their attacking power, this should be a great rebound victory for them.

Central Coast- Murray bagged a double in just the 2^nd minute and then again in the 69^th against Melbourne City in their last game. But alas it wasn’t enough as they fell to them 4-2 in Gosford. The leaky Mariners saw goals go past them in the 5^th, 10^th, 48^th and 74^th minutes of the game, as Maclaren lit them up for 3. They shot just 3/10 on target and gave away 15 fouls, in what were two absolutely telling stats for them. They are currently dead-last with just 4 wins from 22 played games so far this season. They are way out of finals contention and this match just purely represents a chance for them to put some pride back into the once feared yellow jersey. Will their young guns be up to the task of handling the mighty Glory? We’ll have to wait and find out.

What Should Happen- Perth have won 8 of their past 13 clashes against the Mariners. And more recently they have been victorious in 5 of their past 6 games vs them. There is an 18-point gap between the two of them and the gulf in talent is pretty obvious. And to compound all of that, the Mariners are on a 10-game losing streak. Perth should win here and comfortably at that. From 18 games this season, Diego Castro has 11 goal contributions (4 goals and 7 assists). Expect the Magician to once again be at work against the leagues worst side. He’ll run riot for the Glory against the Central Coast’s shoddy defence. He always does.

Betting tips: Pick Perth to win with ease at $1.36 (Bet365)

Also pick them to score first at $1.36 (Bet365)

And pick the 2nd half to be the highest scoring one at $1.96 (BetEasy)

 

Sunday, July 19

Brisbane Roar v Adelaide United 7:30 PM AEST, Cbus Super Stadium View a detailed form guide for Brisbane v Adelaide

Brisbane- Fowler’s gone. He won’t be returning. He is now in England. Three common messages that blew up Roar’s fans ears when his departure was announced. But he leaves the club in 4^th spot, with a solid 10 wins to their name thus far. Not a bad effort at all! They are just a point of 3^rd place and 5 of 2^nd, they have everything to play for right now. And they currently have an impressive 3 wins in a row. 1-0 against the Jets, 1-0 against the Mariners and 3-1 against the Wanderers. They are hitting their stride at the right time of the season. Their 1-0 victory over Newcastle, saw Scott McDonald score the match’s only goal in the 16^th minute. With 40% of the ball, they still managed to shoot 4/12 on target. And they completed a nice 82% of their passes, good for 376/461. The Roar will be greatly confident headed into this one indeed.

Adelaide- Adelaide, just like Brisbane, were left managerless during the unfortunate COVID period. They are equal 6^th on 27 points, but they are seemingly struggling to keep their campaign alive beyond the end of the soon-to-be regular season. Things aren’t going to well in WA. And their last four games have all been heavy defeats. 3-0 to Newcastle, 5-1 to W.U., 2-1 to Melbourne and 5-2 to the Wanderers. In their sorry loss to the Jets, they conceded goals in the 41^st, 51^st and 54^th minutes, a defining 13-minute period of the game. They shot just 1/13 on target, despite the possession being split evenly at 50%. If they start of poorly, the Roar have the potential to make the result decided by half-time. Fingers crossed your side turns up to play Reds fans.

What Should Happen- 8 Of the past 9 clashes between these two sides have been decided by just a goal. Expect a closely contested game. The last time these two teams played, the Roar won courtesy of goals to Muratovic (68^th minute) and 6 minutes later to Aldred. Before that it was another late winner, as the Reds prevailed 1-0 via an 84^th minute McGree strike. Prior to that, it was 5-3 in favour of Adelaide. These sides never fail to disappoint when pitted against one another. Expect a high-scoring, entertainingly close match right here.

Betting tips: Pick the Roar to be victorious at $2.55 (UniBet, Bet365)

Also pick them to score first at $1.80 (Bet365)

And also pick them to score last at $1.96 (BetEasy)

 

Best Bets of the Round

For SYD vs WEL pick the highest scoring half to be the 1st at $3.05 (BetEasy)

For PER vs CCM pick there to be at least a goal in each half at $1.38 (UniBet)

And for BRI vs ADL pick the total goals bracket to be at 4+ at 2.50 (UniBet)