The following are previews with betting tips for Matchweek 19 of the 2020/21 A-League season.
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Thursday, April 29
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Melbourne City v Newcastle Jets7:05 PM AEST, AAMI Park |
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Extremely surprising when analysing these two sides is finding out that Newcastle have won their last two straight and three of their last five contested clashes against Melbourne. Those scores have been 1-0, 2-1 and 3-1. And equally if not more incredible is that those six goals have all come courtesy of different goal-scorers. They’ve been Yuel, Fitzgerald, Urgarkovic, Jair, Champness and O’Donovan. In the first two victories they took 16 shots, whilst in the 3-1 affair they managed to go 5/9 on target. They are both consistently and constantly ruthless whenever they are paired up against last seasons Grand Finalists. Can they pull off another show stopping performance here or will Melbourne further consolidate first place?
City are 1st and the Jets are 12th/last at the moment. At least on paper Melbourne are expected to put a real Cricket-like score on the Wooden Spoon favourites here. And City’s record at AAMI Park this year is simply impeccable. They’ve won 6/7 and have scored 22 goals, whilst conceding just seven! The away side will really have their work cut out for them here and a heavy loss is what will more than likely occur.
Betting tips: Pick City to win at $1.38 (UniBet)
Also pick them to win both halves at $3.05 (UniBet)
And pick Maclaren to score anytime at $1.44 (Bet365, UniBet)
Friday, April 30
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Adelaide United v Western United7:35 PM AEST, Coopers Stadium |
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The latest clash these two played out was a spirited, but at times hard to watch nil-all draw at GMHBA Stadium. Prior to that the Green & Black prevailed on Adelaide’s turf winning 5-1. And before that clash we saw Adelaide win 4-3 in what was one of the games of the season in early 2020 at Whitten Oval. What will really make you say wow is the fact that W.U. came up with five goals despite only having 38% possession and that they allowed Adelaide to fire away 25 shots. Their goals that day came through Berisha twice (18th and 56th mins), Diamanti (32nd min), Burgess (38th min) and Pain (48th min). And the Reds goals in their victory were through Mileusnic twice (9th and 15th mins), McGree (18th min) and Konstandopoulos (79th min). Could Adelaide potentially claim top spot here or will W.U. climb into the Top Six?
Adelaide have won 6/8 at home this season, + a draw. Not to mention they’ve also scored twice as many goals as what they’ve conceded, 14 vs 7. Carl Veart’s men love playing at home and it shows. However, W.U. if they were to claim all three points would move into the Top Six. So safe to say there is a lot on the line for both teams here. In reality though given the Reds heart-breaking 2-1 loss to the Phoenix over the past weekend they have all the motivation in the world to get the win here.
Betting tips: Pick Adelaide to win at $2.16 (UniBet)
Also pick them to score first at $1.64 (UniBet)
And pick each team to get on the score-sheet at least once each at $1.50 (UniBet)
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Perth Glory v Macarthur FC9:40 PM AEST, HBF Park |
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He once scored six goals in 14 games for Olympiacos, while he also found the back of the net four times for the England national U21’s side, it’s Bulls Striker Matt Derbyshire. He is a player who polarises opinions throughout the A-League. This is because when he’s on fire, nobody can beat him, not even the likes of Maclaren or Berisha. But when he’s having a poor day, he’s arguably a big liability to his team and would be better left on the bench. To give you an example this season he has 11 goals from 22 shots on target. But on the season he’s also had 46 off target shots. He also has 11 shot/goal assists, but he’s also given up 16 fouls including four yellows in total.
Perth themselves will go all out in attack given their current near do-or-die situation when it comes to playing finals Football, so Derbyshire will need to come up with something good in order to counter that. Can Derbyshire come up with the goals or will the Glory run away with it here?
Perth is currently in 10th place while Macarthur are in 5th. The Glory have also lost six of their past 10 games and the Bulls four of their last 10. The Glory’s last match was postponed due to the COVID situation in Perth and as for the Bulls they claimed a well-deserved point drawing 1-all vs City at Campbelltown Stadium. I’m not sure if Perth will have what it takes here, I’d expect the Bulls to come out on top here in what should be a close match-up.
Betting tips: Pick Macarthur to win at $3.20 (Bet365)
Also pick them to score last at $2.20 (Bet365)
And pick each team to score at least one goal each at $1.61 (UniBet)
Saturday, May 1
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Brisbane Roar v Wellington Phoenix5:05 PM AEST, Dolphin Stadium |
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These two clubs love a thriller. Taking a trip back to 2017 we were lucky enough to witness a pair of encounters between these two sides that highlighted just why the A-League is so entertaining and at times incredible. Firstly, at Suncorp Stadium Brisbane escaped with a high-scoring 4-3 victory. Then the next time they played at Westpac the Phoenix gave up a three-goal lead to draw 3-all.
In the first clash it was a 67th minute Holman effort, his second of the match, that saw the Roar through. And it was a very even match as well as each side owned 50% each of the ball, that while the Roar went 9/17 on target and the Phoenix 7/18. In the second clash former Milan and Empoli player Maccarone turned Brisbane striker scored twice including one on the stroke of HT (45th min) and then again late (82nd min) to steal away what was an extremely unexpected point for the visitors. Will we hopefully be treated to another classic here?
Brisbane has six wins on the season so far and Wellington just one more. The Roar are also on 23 points, while the Phoenix are at 25. Each side is also in a fairly good position to make the finals if they can win their fair share of remaining games on their respective schedules. So, how do you separate the two of them and pick a winner? It’s certainly not an easy task. But looking at Wellington they didn’t give up last week after going down 1-0 in the second half to Adelaide and courtesy of a 97th minute converted Hemed penalty they miraculously won the match. They want to win Football games and never give up and that is why they’re my pick here.
Betting tips: Pick Wellington to win at $3.50 (Bet365)
Pick both teams to score in the second half at $2.80 (UniBet)
And pick the second half to be the highest scoring one at 1.95 (Bet365)
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Western Sydney v Sydney FC7:10 PM AEST, Bankwest Stadium |
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This is the match of the round right here. On one hand is the Wanderers, a team who are now out of the Top Six on GD and have all of W.U., Brisbane and Perth closely trailing them and all with games in hand. Then there is Sydney, the back-to-back Champions are coming off a highly contentious away draw to the Mariners and need a win to stay in touch with 1st place. What a game we have right here!
How will the one-two punch of Duke and Ibini go up against the Sky Blues version in the form of Barbarouses and Ninkovic? The Red & Blacks has a lot more agility and speed to it, but Sydney’s is arguably more successful and experienced. Duke’s scored five goals this campaign, while Ibini has 13 shot/three goal assists. For the other combo Barbarouses has six strikes on the season and Ninkovic 25 shot/one goal assist. With the game set to be won further forward on the field you just know these four will have a monumental say on the result of the match.
One thing that’s guaranteed is that the Wanderers will be desperate as touched on before. So make no mistake about it they will come out all guns blazing early on in this encounter. In their last four games they’ve failed to score first and unsurprisingly two of those four games have been losses, while they’ve claimed just two points in total over that period. Carl Robinson will have ensured by game-time that his side have worked incredibly hard to change that. As usual it’ll be close and it’ll be fiery. The hate is real in this Sydney Derby!!!
Betting tips: Pick both teams to feature on the score-sheet at $1.57 (Bet365)
Also pick there to be at least 1+ goal in each half at 1.56 (UniBet)
And pick Sydney to score the games first goal at $1.72 (Bet365)
Sunday, May 2
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Melbourne Victory v Central Coast4:05 PM AEST, AAMI Park |
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Four of these two sides last five games between one another have all been decided by a late goal. First it was Ruiz-Diaz in Kogarah who scored the 89th minute winner in an empty venue. Although the passion was enough to be felt throughout many suburbs! Then in Gosford much to the delight of the home fans Simon converted the 100th minute spot-kick to claim all three-points in a simply crazy fashion. Before that at AAMI Park Niedermeier scored a fine strike in the 79th minute to take out that clash after Simon had previously equalized in the 53rd minute. And finally back to Gosford again Barbarouses claimed the 88th minute winner after a fine assist from Troisi. These sides love to play it close, whilst their most recent clash was a 1-all draw. Could the Victory climb further away from bottom spot or could the Mariners potentially jump back into first position on the ladder?
One is 11th and the other is in 2nd on the ladder. The Victory’s GD is an astonishing -26, by far the worst in the A-League, while the Mariners are at +7. There are too many differences between each side this season to properly bother counting. But with the Victory coming of a 5-4 win last weekend vs the Wanderers and with the Mariners having contentiously drawn 2-2 against Sydney, there is the real potential for another Victory upset to occur here. It’ll be tight and it’ll be tough but I expect the Victory to come out with the shock win here.
Betting tips: Pick the Victory to claim the shock win here at $3.50 (Bet365)
Also pick them to score first at $2.30 (Bet365)
And pick both teams to score at $1.50 (Bet365)
Wednesday, May 5
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Brisbane Roar v Western United7:05 PM AEST, Dolphin Stadium |
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Former Celtic man McDonald recently agreed with Brisbane’s hierarchy to mutually terminate his contract with the club which makes him an FA. But more importantly despite his inconsistencies he was a major goal-scoring threat for Brisbane this season and it’s difficult to see (at least internally) how they would go about replacing those lost strikes. He had three goals and two goal assists for the Roar this season from just nine games played. Not to mention the former Socceroo also brought a wealth of experience with him to the Roar and was a leader within their side. This could also potentially negatively impact some of the younger lads such as Wenzel-Halls as well. It remains to be seen how this departure will impact Warren Moon’s side but I’m guessing not in the greatest way.
The Roar’s latest game was a 2-1 away win vs the Wanderers while for Western United it was a 1-all away draw vs the Phoenix. Each side played well during their respective encounters, but perhaps not up to their full potential. And given everything that’s on the line here it will make for one hell of an interesting encounter. Also throwing some chaos into the equation is that the Roar have been subpar at home this season and W.U. have been terrible on the road. W.U. should have just enough class to edge this one out, especially with the Roar still having to adapt to life without McDonald but that’s not a given.
Betting tips: Pick W.U. to win at $1.70, score first at $1.45 and for there to be at least 1+ goals in each half at $1.45 at those odds or more when they become available.
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Perth Glory v Melbourne City9:20 PM AEST, HBF Park |
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Twenty-one-year-old Midfielder Metclafe has been a revelation for Melbourne City this season. He scored City’s only goal vs Macarthur in the 59th minute out West during his sides 1-1 draw in the latest matchcweek.
On the season from 17 games played he has four goals and 19 shot/ three goal assists. He’s also made 625 accurate passes, good for an 87% completion rate. He’s also won 55% of all his duels, as well as 55% of all his aerial ones as well. Those being good for 100/183 and 26/47 respectively. Not to mention he’s also won 63% of his take ons, 19/30 and made 17 tackles as well. He is 100% the perfect example of what happens when an A-League side gives time to an Australian youth player. He’s torn it up and deservedly so is worthy of all the praise he’s been getting this season. What sort of an impact will he have on this match?
Perth have scored 13 goals at home this season, that while Melbourne have produced 17 on the road. The Glory have also won only three games at NIB Stadium this season, as for City they just pip that number with four. Given Melbourne play twice this during this latest matchweek they may elect to rest a couple of players for this trip and if that is the case then the potential is there for a very big Perth upset. However, if not then City should cruise to perhaps a one-goal or a two-goal margin of victory.
Betting tips: Pick Melbourne to win at $1.45, score first at $1.25 and for there to be at least 1+ goals in each half at $1.35 at those odds or more when they become available.
Best Bets of the Round
Pick Noone to score anytime for City vs the Jets at $2.45 (UniBet)
Also pick the 2nd half of that clash to be the highest scoring one at $1.95 (Bet365)
And pick there to be at least 1+ goal in each half of Adelaide vs Macarhur at $1.54 (UniBet)