The following are previews with betting tips for the third week of the resumption of the 2019/20 A-League season.
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Monday, July 27
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Central Coast Mariners v Western Sydney Wanderers7:30 PM AEST, Central Coast Stadium |
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Last RD- The Mariners played out one of the most frustrating and boring matches of the season, as they drew 0-0 with the Jets. The CCM throughout the game owned 33% of the ball and shot just 3/10 on target. They also only completed 73% of their passes. That was good for a poor 243/334. In comparison, NEW completed 88% of theirs and generally dominated the Mariners, despite the score-line suggesting otherwise. The CCM are now resigned to all but collecting yet another Wooden Spoon, as this represents only their 14th point of the season. In comparison, rivals Newcastle have double that.
For the Wanderers, they have yet to play a match during the re-started A-League campaign. However their last game before the postponed season was a classic one! They held Sydney FC to a 1-all draw at Bankwest Stadium, as they sent a real scare through their opponents camp. Le Fondre struck first for the opposition in the 35th minute. But it was Yeboah who played the role of hero for the home team that night, as he managed to find the back of the net in the 82nd minute to even up the scores. WSW owned 52% possession of the ball, but they still managed to go only 4/20 on target shots wise. They did however complete a strong 85% of their passes. Something which was good for 474/555. On the season they are in 9th place and have just 7 victories to their name so far. They’ll be looking to strongly add to that tally here.
What Should Happen- A Wanderers victory. With all due respect to the Mariners, at this current point in time. They are absolute garbage and Western Sydney have a bit of form behind them as well. While it’s ultimately near impossible to tell what they’ll look like and be like post the resumed season, the CCM were trash against the Jets on Friday night. And the Wanderers have been victorious in 10 of their past 14 matches played against the Mariners. The Central Coast at this point would do very well just to put 1 or 2 past the Wanderers, little lone snatch the Victory against them.
Betting tip: Pick the Wanderers to win at $1.57 (Sportsbet, UniBet)
Also pick them to score last at $1.50 (BetEasy)
Wednesday, July 29
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Melbourne Victory v Brisbane Roar7:30 PM AEST, BankWest Stadium |
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Last RD- W.U. completed the series-sweep over them, as they lost 2 goals to 1 at Bankwest Stadium. The Victory conceded goals in the 38th and 57th minutes of the game. Their sole consolation strike came via Storm Roux in the 83rd minute of the match. And despite having 52% possession, the Victory still managed to shoot only 2/12 on target! In comparison, W.U. shot 4/11. Melbourne did however manage to complete 89% of their attempted passes. Something that was pretty good for 496/557. And it was a high-fouling affair for them as well, as they gave up 20 and 2 yellows. W.U. gave up just the 10 fouls. The Victory are in 10th spot and mathematically cannot make the Top 6. They have just 5 wins from 22 attempts and this match for them will be nothing more then a chance to build on some things heading into next season. Sorry times for the Victorian based club indeed.
For the Roar, their last hit-out was a 1-0 loss to Adelaide on the Gold Coast. Playing their first match since Robbie Fowler’s departure from the club, there were both good and bad moments for Brisbane. Opseth scored the games only goal in just the 6th minute of the match. Brisbane dominated possession with 57%. And their shots came across pretty strongly as well, as they went 8/22 on target + they had a shot hit the woodwork. And they also completed 85% of their passes, which was good for 476/558. But they also disappointingly allowed the Reds to go 4/10 on target, despite them having just 43% of the ball. BRI did win 47 duels to the Reds 42. And also 13 aerial duels to their 11. The Roar are currently in 4th spot on 35 points. They are 5 of 3rd placed City and the 2nd placed Nix.
What Should Happen- One team is riding high in an attempt to win a Championship. The other just got swept by Western United and is the worst team in the entire A-League at the moment, bar the exception of the Mariners. You can pick an easy Brisbane win here. They might not have scored against ADL last round. But they had 8 shots on target and 22 shots in total. MEL in comparison were just torn apart by a side that hadn’t played in ages (although in all fairness neither had the Victory). Brisbane have 10 wins on the campaign, the Victory have 5. Brisbane have 35 points and the Victory have just 20. The Roar’s difference in class here will deliver them a crucial 3 points over their long-time rivals.
Betting tip: Pick Brisbane to win at $2.50 (UniBet)
Also pick the 2nd half to be the highest scoring one at $2.03 (BetEasy)
Thursday, July 30
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Adelaide United v Perth Glory7:30 PM AEST, BankWest Stadium |
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Last RD- Adelaide beat Brisbane 1-0 at Cbus Super Stadium in their last game. It was a strong performance from a Reds side seeking to cement a spot within the Top 6. Opseth scored the games only goal in the 6th minute, after assistance from Strain with the cross. The Reds had 43% of the ball and they went 4/10 on target, shooting-wise. They also had a shot hit the woodwork and they completed a solid 81% of their passes, something which was good for 338/418. They additionally won 42 duels and 11 aerial duels. They also won 18 tackles and made 2 take-ons. But their foul-count was high as they conceded 13. This match is another must win for Adelaide with Western United breathing down their necks for 6th spot and given that W.U. have some games in hand, the Reds really do need to claim all 3 points here. Currently they are in 6th on 31 points. But W.U. are on 38 and Newcastle a further spot back, are on 28 points.
For the Glory in their last game, they went down 2-1 to the Nix at Parramatta. Ingham scored his 2nd goal in 2 games for Perth in the 62nd minute. But that came after Hooper in the 32nd minute and Davila 16 minutes later, had previously found the back of the net for Wellington. The Glory owned 61% of the ball and managed to shoot 4//9 on target. They also completed a great 87% of their passes. Something which was good for 598/684. And duels-wise, there were some high numbers. This came about as they were victorious in 53 duels and 18 aerial duels. They made 18 tackles as well as winning 7 take-ons. But their fouls were incredibly high, as they gave up 18. For Perth, this was their 6th defeat of the season and has left them in 5th on the ladder. They’re just a point of the 4th placed Roar at the moment and need to get a lil bit more consistency going at the moment before finals time comes around.
What Should Happen- Perth have won 7 of the past 11 matches that have recently been contested between these two sides. And boy oh boy, haven’t there been some truly magical and entertaining ones? We got a masterclass last time-out against ADL, as they won 3-0, despite only having 38% of the ball. Before that, they beat the Reds 5-4 on penalties in an epic shoot-out to advance to the Grand Final. Prior to that, the Glory came up big 2-0 in Adelaide, with both Castro (35th min) and Keogh (75th min), getting on the score-sheet. But despite how fun they’ve been to watch, the common denominator within all of them, is that the Glory have come out on top. And that should be no different in this affair, despite the Reds desperateness for a victory.
Betting tip: Pick Perth to win at $2.18 (BetEasy)
Also pick the highest scoring half to be the 2nd one at $2.00 (BetEasy)
Friday, July 31
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Western Sydney Wanderers v Wellington Phoenix7:30 PM AEST, BankWest Stadium |
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Last RD- The Wanderers last match was already talked about in detail previously. But on the season, they are in 9th spot, have played 21 games, with 7 of those resulting in wins. They also have 5 draws and 9 defeats to date. They are on 26 points and highly unlikely to feature in the finals this campaign. This despite some stellar results against the likes of Sydney FC & Co. They just haven’t been up to standard enough throughout the season. In 6 of their past 7 games, they have claimed either a win or a draw. Those positive results from newest to oldest have been, 1-1 against Sydney, 1-1 against City, 1-0 against Sydney, 5-2 against Adelaide, 1-1 against Newcastle and 3-1 against the Mariners. Had they turned some of those closely contested draws into wins, then who knows? Perhaps they’d be within the 6, but also perhaps not? But they have claimed some positive results never the less this season, which they’ll no doubt look to build on against a Nix team playing out of home.
In the 87th minute Davila had his spot-kick attempt saved by Paul Izzo and that handed Sydney FC the Minor Premiership. No longer can the Nix finish 1st, but there’s still a hell of a lot of respectability to finishing in 2nd place, which is absolutely something that this current Wellington team can achieve. This all came about via their 1-1 draw with Adelaide in Parramatta last round. Opseth scored 1st for the opposition 60 minutes in, then Sotirio scored just 5 minutes later for the Nix to even the scores up and that is how it ultimately ended, in a tough tie. The Nix owned 53% of the ball, yet went just 4/17 on target + they had a shot bounce of the woodwork. They did however complete a strong 88% of their passes, something which was good for 432/491. And they gave up only 9 fouls and 2 yellows as well. Despite losing their underdog chance at the Minor Premiership, their are tonnes of positives for the Nix to take from this one. Currently they are on 40 points, with 12 victories.
What Should Happen- WELLINGTON! WELLINGTON! WELLINGTON! Wellington is what should happen in this one. Between Davila (12 goals and 5 assists), Ball (6 goals and 4 assists) and Hooper (7 goals and 4 assists), they should tear up the Wanderers questionable defence to shreds! No doubt about it! They might be playing out of New Zealand, but that won’t matter to the ruthless Phoenix who’ll want to cement 2nd spot as their own. I genuinely could see the Nix scoring 4+ in this one. And watch for their front 3 to be a MASSIVE part of it.
Betting tip: pick Wellington to win at $2.55 (Unibet)
Also pick Wellington to win both halves at $8.50 (Unibet) and to score first at $1.80 (bet365)
Saturday, August 1
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Melbourne City v Sydney FC5:00 PM AEST, ANZ Stadium |
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Last RD- City currently sit in 3rd on the A-League ladder. From 23 matches they have 40 points, the same number of points that 2nd placed Wellington are on. There is only a goal in-between the two sides GD (+ 9 vs 8). It’ll be a tight race to the finish line for those two power-house sides. City haven’t played yet since the resumption of the season, as they have had to isolate mostly since they arrived in Sydney. So their last game was a 2-1 loss to Newcastle in Newcastle, a while back. Fitzgerald scored first for the Jets in the 48th minute. Then in the 70th minute Berenguer evened things up for City. Then just 8 minutes later, Ugarkovic found the back of the net for NEW and that is how things ended. City owned 50% possession of the ball, but shot just 2/10 on target! They hit 5 shots off-target! They did however complete 87% of their passes, good for 529/605. Coming up against Sydney is the perfect chance for City to really prove as to whether or not they are legitimate Championship contenders. Will they live up to the task? Or will the hype all be too much for them?
Courtesy of Wellington’s 1-1 draw with ADL last round, the Sky Blues now have 4X Minor Premierships to their name. They have 16 wins from 22 matches, a GD of +27 and 51 points to their name. Nobody can really stop them can they? UH wrong, last round the Jets showed them what was up in Kogorah, as they came away with an upset 2-1 victory. Ex Sky Blue Ibini tormented his former side down the flanks with his speed and ability with the ball at his feet. Sydney scored first via Caceres in the 25th minute, but from there it was all one-way traffic as NEW scored goals in the 58th and 90th minutes to win the game. With 45% of the ball, they shot only 1/7 on target. They also completed just 81% of their passes. Something that was good for 374/461. Will the Sky Blues claim a rebound victory here? Tune into what should be an amazing spectacle of Football.
What Should Happen- Sydney get their rebound win. City are good, no doubt about it. Perhaps even amazing this campaign, with all that they’ve achieved to date. But the Sky Blues are on a totally different level to everyone else and they’ll be keen to prove that after their horror-show in their most recent loss to the Jets, last time they played. I mean 1/7 on target, that certainly ain’t Sky Blues Football. Stevie Corica will have them fired up to the nines and rightfully so. They’ve beaten City in 9 of their past 10 games that they’ve played against them. So they have that rather strong statistic working in their favor as well.
Betting tip: pick Sydney to win at $2.66 (BetEasy)
Also pick the 2nd half to be the highest scoring one at 2.00 (BetEasy)
When the odds become available pick Adam Le Fondre to score at any-time
Sunday, August 2
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Newcastle Jets v Western United7:30 PM AEST, McDonald Jones Stadium |
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Last RD- Petratos!!! Petratos!!! Petratos!!! This was such a better performance then the crap 0-0 whatever you want to call it that they produced against the Mariners, just a few days after their shock win over the Sky Blues. So I’ll focus on the more positive one instead. He scored the 90th minute winner in Sydney against Sydney, to give his side the come-from-behind 2-1 victory, much to the joy of the small contingent of travelling supporters. Fitzgerald also scored in the 58th minute for NEW. With 55% possession of the ball throughout the match, they managed to shoot 6/15 on target. They also had a shot hit the woodwork. And they completed a pretty damn good 85% of their passes as well, something that was good for 466/547. And their foul-tally was pretty low as well. at just 11 conceded. Currently they are in 8th spot on 28 points, just 3 of 6th placed Adelaide. But with both ADL and W.U. having some games in hand over them, they’ll need a few results to go their way, as well as their own, for them to have any chance of featuring in the finals.
Uskok scored first in the 38th minute and then Burgess got another one in the 57th minute. These 2 goals gave W.U. a strong 2-1 win over the Victory and helped the A-League’s newest franchise complete the series sweep over their arch-rivals. With 48% of the ball, they managed to go 4/11 on target. Significantly better then what the Victory produced. They were at just 52% and 2/12 on target, shots-wise. They also completed 87% of their passes, good for 442/510. And they won 60 duels and 12 aerial duels as well. Mark Rudan’s men are firing on all cylinders at the right time of the season and BIG CALL, but I would genuinely consider them to be a Championship threat for this campaign! That is just how well and truly HIGH I rate absolutely rate them! They seemingly have the perfect blend of experience and youth on their side.
What Should Happen- A really, really good game of Football. Both sides want to be playing Finals Football. And both sides have shown it with some of their recent results. For the higher up Western United, they torched the Victory and prior to that, put a combined 11 past ADL/CCM. For Newcastle, only 3 games ago they beat City. And 2 games ago they came out on top against Sydney FC to temporarily delay their Minor Premiership celebrations. They both know how to score and to put up a good fight. This one could well prove to be game of the round!
Betting tip: pick Western United to win at $3.25 (Unibet) and to score first when the odds become available.
Also when the odds become available pick Max Burgess to score at anytime throughout the match.
Best Bet of the Round
Pick the Wanderers to win at $1.57 (Sportsbet, UniBet) vs the Mariners
Also pick the highest scoring half to be the 2nd one at $2.00 (BetEasy) between Adelaide/Perth