The following are previews with betting tips for Matchweek 15 of the 2020/21 A-League season.
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Thursday, April 1
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Western United v Melbourne City5:35 PM AEDT, AAMI Park |
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Who could possibly forget when these two sides last went head-to-head? In what was an extremely entertaining clash at AAMI Park Vujica opened the scoring in the 22nd min with a fine header from a Sanchez cross. Just 10 mins later it was Noone who evened up the scores with a right footed shot to the bottom right corner. And then cometh the man cometh the hour it was ‘Macca’ who scored the late 84th min winner with a shot from the centre of the box after an assist from Colakovski. Will similar scenes be repeated here or will W.U. do what they have to under the guidance of Diamanti?
Jumping forward to more recent clashes it was W.U. who had their most recent game vs the Roar at Dolphin Stadium postponed due to the horrific weather. Prior to that in also pretty bad weather they went down 2-1 to Macarthur at Campbelltown Stadium. In what was a positive for them the inform Pierias opened the scoring in just the 8th min of the match. As for City, they dominated the Wanderers 4-1 in Melbourne. With Noone scoring X2 (33rd and 55th mins), as well as Nabbout (52nd min) and Maclaren (92nd min) all getting on the score-sheet it proved to be a real rout. That was Maclaren’s 12th strike of the season from just 12 games played. W.U. only owned 41% of the ball and shot just 2/6 on target. In comparison Melbourne owned 61% of the ball and shot 11/29 on target, with a shot hitting the woodwork. With the form they’re in at the moment it would take a lot for W.U. to steal this one away from City. Melbourne are now only 2 points off the top, while W.U. are 5 points off of a finals spot.
Betting tips: Pick City to win at $1.65 (Sportsbet)
Also pick them to score last at $1.44 (bet365)
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Central Coast v Adelaide United7:40 PM AEDT, Central Coast Stadium |
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Mariners fans ain’t gonna like hearing about this one but it’s difficult not to refer to the last time these two teams met. Adelaide prevailed 3-2 over the Central Coast at Hindmarsh Stadium as Juric scored a hat-trick of penalties. The refs certainly did the away side no favours, as they even sent of Rowles in the 7th min of added time in the 2nd half. De Silva did however open the scoring in the controversial affair with a right footed shot to the bottom right corner in the 15th min. And Kuol had one in the 63rd min as well after an assist from SImon. Regardless of who got screwed over this encounter possessed a tonne of entertainment value within it. And it was a very testy clash as well with Adelaide giving up 13 fouls and the Central Coast 18. What will we see from this match?
During the last matchweek we saw Adelaide win their 6th game in a row as they beat the Sky Blues 1-0 at home. That was their first win over Sydney in the A-League since 2016 as they finally fully overcame one of their hoodoo teams. For the Mariners they shared the spoils with the Victory 1-1 at Bluetongue Stadium. The Reds goal came after Brattan brought down one of their players in the box. Goodwin proceeded to step up to the plate and once the ball blasted past Redmayne into the back of the net the home crowd went wild and who could blame them. They won 60 duels to Sydney’s 62, but they came out on top with 20 aerial duel wins to their 19. Urena scored the Central Coast’s only goal in the 31st min with the right footed shot after a nice assist from Bouman. The Victory beat them duel-wise 53 to 41, but the Mariners won 18 aerial duels to their 13. Nothing changes here with the Mariners still in 1st and the Victory still in last.
Betting tips: Pick both sides to get on the score-sheet at $1.57 (bet365)
Also pick Craig Goodwin to score anytime at $3.40 (bet365)
Friday, April 2
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Macarthur FC v Perth Glory6:05 PM AEDT, Campbelltown Stadium |
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Macarthur currently sit in 4th on the ladder with 7 wins from 14 games. Perth sit in 7th with 5 wins from 12 games to date. These two teams match up incredibly well, so the big question is who wins and why? In my books the Glory should ever so slightly edge this one out. Two of Perth’s last four games have been draws against the back-to-back Champions in the form of Sydney FC (1-all) and against the current league leading Mariners (2-2). Not too mention their most recent game was also a home win over the Jets (2-1). It’s a fair question to ask ehh its just the Jets, what’s the big fuss? The Jets had 22 shots last match and were kept to just the sole goal. Prior to that, Sydney took 16 shots in total and were kept to just the one goal as well. Then glancing over the anomaly in their loss to Western Sydney, if it weren’t for the 90th min spotkick Perth would’ve actually beaten the Mariners away from home. Over the past couple of weeks the Bulls have displayed some indifferent form, thus helping to further sway the game the Glory’s way.
Macarhur in their last game didn’t look very convincing. Yes they escaped Woolongong with a 1-0 win over Wellington but it was kept a lot closer then it should’ve been. The Bulls shot 6/13 on target and completed 84% of their passes, good for 388/464. How did they not beat the Phoenix by more then they did? Earlier in March they went down 3-0 to City. And even earlier on in the season they conceded 4 to Western United, 3 to Sydney and their first home match was a 2-0 defeat to the Central Coast. Based off everything there’s certainly the potential for that to repeat itself here. Cover your eyes Macarthur fans cause this one could get ugly.
Betting tips: Pick Perth to win at $3.35 (UniBet)
Also pick both sides to register at least a goal each at $1.61 (bet365)
Saturday, April 3
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Brisbane Roar v Western Sydney7:10 PM AEDT, Dolphin Stadium |
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Out of the last possible 21 points that Brisbane could’ve won, they’ve won just 4! Warren Moon’s side has been average lately and that’s possibly endearing them a little too much. They’ve also lost 2 of their last 4 which has included a damaging 3-1 loss to Perth at NIB Stadium. During that match the Roar took 20 shots but could only register one goal, YIKES! And being in 8th spot at the moment, they are 3 points of 6th placed Sydney and there’s still the Glory to account for sandwiched in-between the two of them. Not too mention they’re now 9 points off a Top 2 spot.
Wenzel-Halls needs to start producing for Brisbane, over the past 7 of the Roar’s games he’s scored just one single goal. The teenager has 6 in total this season and seriously needs to start playing his way back into the form he showed over the earlier part of the campaign. If he can up his game then there’s no reason Brisbane can’t cause some damage both here and further down the track, but if not then who knows what’ll happen?
As for the Wanderers despite them being in 5th spot currently and just 4 points off top, their latest game which was a dismantling 4-1 loss to City in Melbourne caused some serious damage. They conceded goals in the 33rd, 52nd, 55th and 92nd mins of the game, as their single one was produced via Ibini in the 22nd min of the match. With 40% of the ball they shot a pathetic 1/7 on target. Both things didn’t really help them in their attempts to win the match. However one surprising stat from this game was that each side only gave up a single yellow each. And while City only gave up 7 fouls, the Wanderers were just one worse at 8.
Betting tips: Pick Western Sydney to win at $3.25 (UniBet)
Also pick there to be at least 1+ goals in each half at $1.55 (UniBet)
Sunday, April 4
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Melbourne Victory v Sydney FC7:05 PM AEDT, AAMI Park |
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There are a lot of great rivalries in the A-League. You have some newer ones such as those between Wellington and Western United, while some older ones include the F3 Derby as well as whenever the Victory and Adelaide feisty go up against one another. But this one’s different, there really is a certain disdain between the two clubs. They’ve both beaten each other on the biggest stage in the past (GF’s) and some of their previous clashes have been absolutely mental. The scores, the goals, the tackles, all of it! I mean no one can forget Kevin Muscat and what he used to do? Or when the Victory simply smashed what was actually a really good Sydney side 3-0 in a previous Grand Final? And with Sydney having won the past 5 games between these two sides by a combined score of 17-5 there’s certainly bound to be no love lost between the two of them in the latest edition of the Big Blue Derby. Will the Victory rises from the ashes or will Sydney see a reversal in form?
Melbourne need a win here more then ever to appease their quickly waning fan base. Sydney need a win here to change their form up quickly given they are in great danger of falling out of the Top 6 altogether. For Melbourne their latest clash was a somewhat encouraging 1-1 draw with the Central Coast in Gosford. For Sydney they went down 1-0 in what was a meek effort against the Reds in Adelaide. Both sides need wins here which makes this clash of an extremely high value. As if that wasn’t enough, 15/15 games last played between these two fierce rivals have not been draws. So if history tells us anything it’s that someones going to walk away with all 3 points meaning we should be in for a great one here.
Betting tips: Pick both sides to score at $1.61 (bet365)
Also pick Bobo to find the back of the net at anytime at $1.80 (bet365)
Monday, April 5
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Newcastle Jets v Western United5:05 PM AEDT, McDonald Jones Stadium |
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Out of the three encounters in which these sides have met, there’s been a 0-0 draw in Newcastle and either side of that have been 1-0 Jets victories. The nil-all draw was severely one-sided as the home side owned 60% possession of the ball and shot 6/27 on target. In comparison W.U, owned 40% of the ball and shot just 2/4 on target. While Newcastle’s last win vs W.U. came at McDonald Jones Stadium. O’Donovan was assisted by Hoffman with a cross as he committed to the header himself and got the ball into the bottom left corner in what was the games only goal.
Heading into this clash the two teams are in pretty similar form, close to that of how that previously mentioned game played out. Newcastle have lost 5 of their last 5 and W.U. 3 of their last 5. The Jets have also leaked 21 goals this season, while W.U. have conceded 18. Which defence will be good enough to hand their side the win? Linking back briefly to the Jets defeats they’ve gone down 2-1 to Perth, 4-1 to Adelaide, 2-1 to Sydney, 2-1 to Adelaide and 2-0 to Wellington. While for the opposition their defeats have come at the hands of the Bulls 2-1, Sky Blues 2-0 and Wanderers 1-0. Hopefully one side gets to break their drought here!
Betting tips: Pick both sides to score at least once each at odds of $1.50 or more when they become available.
Also pick there to be at least one goal over each 45 minute period at odds of $1.60 or more when they become available.
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Wellington Phoenix v Melbourne City7:10 PM AEDT, WIN Stadium |
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During the Phoenix’s latest game they ended up going down 1-0 to Macarthur at the Woolongong Showground. Despite a solid defensive effort from the home team, it just wasn’t enough in the end. This has left them in 9th on the ladder and four points off a Top 6 spot. They are also 10 points off a Top 2 spot. Now in comparison to City, City are just absolute streaks ahead of the Nix at the moment. After their commanding 3-1 win over Western Sydney at AAMI Park during the last matchweek they are in 3rd and just 2 points off the Top 6. And given they have a game in hand over 2nd placed Adelaide and two in hand over the 1st placed Central Coast it’s safe to say that Melbourne are in a pretty good place right now. How many goals will City pile on in this one?
Craig Noone! He has scored 3 goals from his last 3 games for City and on the season he has 4 in total to go along with 4 assists. He also has 34 shot assists. He’s been in some hot form of late and just to add to that, he’s also won 61% of his attempted tackles this season, that’s good for 17/28 in total. And averaging 82 mins per match and having played in all 12 of City’s games he’s proving to be very durable and one of the A-League’s finer attackers. His running ability when with the ball, not too mention his goal scoring exploits could create a lot of problems for the Nix in this clash.
Betting tips: Pick City to win at odds of $1.20 or more when they become available.
Also pick Maclaren to score anytime at odds of $1.70 or more when they become available.
Tuesday, April 6
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Western Sydney v Central Coast7:05 PM AEDT, Bankwest Stadium |
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How do you possibly go past Ziggy Gordon right here? The former Mariner has been simply killing it this season for his new side. He’s made a lot of potential goal-saving tackles and has thrown himself around like a rag doll out on the field. He has won an impressive 82% of his attempted tackles so far, good for 28/34. While the Defender has also won 60% of his duels, good for 76/126. He’s also claimed 56% of his aerial duels, good for 29/52. The man has simply done no wrongs this year and even has a cheeky goal to his name. Expect him to terrorize his former side on the defensive side of things.
When it comes to the Mariners Marl Birighitti is difficult to overlook right here isn’t he? The former Swansea City man has been ballistic in goals for his side this season and is one of the key reasons as to why the Central Coast have been amazing defensively. He’s kept 5 clean sheets from 14 games to date this campaign and is averaging 2.07 saves per match. He’s also made 10 saves from outside the box. He’s quick on his feet and the 29-year-old is still extremely agile. With the Wanderers potent attack it’s safe to say that he’ll be heavily called upon in this clash.
Regardless of what the eventual result is this clash is bound to be both entertaining and possibly a bit rough. So strap yourselves in because we’re in for a great one here!
Betting tips: Pick Duke to score anytime vs his former side at odds of $2.10 or more when they become available.
Also pick each side to score at least once each at odds of $1.45 or more when they become available.
Wednesday, April 7
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Sydney FC v Perth Glory7:05 PM AEDT, Netstrata Jubilee Stadium |
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Diego Castro was incredibly influential when these sides met not that long ago in what was a 1-1 draw in Perth. His ability to create something out of nothing and attempts to drag his side to victory were heroic and definitely didn’t go unnoticed. He is just something else isn’t he and that combined with the fact that the Glory now have some form behind them means that his side have an amazing shot of upsetting the unsettled and out of form Sky Blues. He has created 12 shot assists this campaign from 9 games, while he also has 2 strikes to his name as well. If he and Fornaroli can get firing early in this clash then there is the potential for Perth to put 2, 3 or even perhaps 4 past the back-to-back Champions. Will they get Perth over the line here or will the Sky Blues break out of their rut?
From that 1-all draw at NIB Stadium, Fornaroli opened the scoring in the 43rd min, that was before Bobo scored in the 63rd min to even the scores up. It was a fun game and one that was indicative of just how tight and competitive the A-League has been this campaign. The two sides also combined for 23 shots, with 13 of those landing on target. Whenever these two teams go head-to-head it’s quite the spectacle and there’s no reason to imagine that won’t change here.
Betting tips: Pick Fornaroli to score anytime at odds of $2.30 or more when they become available.
Also pick both sides to feature on the score-sheet at odds of $1.50 or more when they become available.
Best Bets of the Round
Pick the HT/FT result of the ADL vs CCM game to be ADL/ADL at $5.50 (BlueBet)
Also pick the HT/FT result of the SYD vs MEL game to be SYD/SYD at $2.75 (bet365, BlueBet, UniBet)