The following are previews with betting tips for Matchweek 24 of the 2020/21 A-League season.
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Thursday, June 3
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Adelaide United v Western Sydney7:35 PM AEST, Coopers Stadium |
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Adelaide are playing for a home final whilst for Western Sydney this game is all about finishing their season off on the right note as their finals hopes are next to impossible. However giving the Wanderers a glimmer of hope in this one is that the Reds last game was a damaging 4-1 home defeat to Sydney. That being a clash in which they leaked goals in the 6th, 54th, 58th and 71st minutes. Whilst Adelaide themselves could only manage to shoot 3/9 on target + they had a shot hit the woodwork. As for the Red & Black their latest game was a case of too little too late as they claimed a decisive 2-0 victory over the Roar at Bankwest Sadium. Their result was sealed through Ibini in the 28th minute and Kamau in the 88th, both with fine strikes. The big question here is do the Wanderers have it in them for one massive late finals burst? That could heavily decide the outcome of this one.
The Wanderers 2-0 victory over Brisbane is a sign of just how good they could’ve been this season. They also won a Sydney Derby and had some other fantastic results! But there weren’t enough of them ultimately to lead them to the promised land. And after the Wanderers snared Carl Robinson away from the Jets and brought in the likes of Ibini and Troisi, that is exactly what was expected of them. So this is the sides final chance (probably) of the campaign to show out and play to their potential. Not too mention there’d be a few players in there fighting for their futures hoping to secure new contracts as well. Adelaide might be playing for a lot here but their recent results indicate anything but. This as their past matches have seen them lose 4-1 to the Sky Blues, two games before that they lost 2-1 to Perth and another two before that they went down 4-1 to City. The Wanderers I would expect to claim the tight victory in this encounter.
Betting tips: Pick there to be a goal in each half at $1.45 (UniBet)
Also pick each side to find the back of the net at $1.50 (Bet365)
And pick the 2nd half to be the highest scoring one at $1.95 (Bet365)
Friday, June 4
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Macarthur FC v Wellington Phoenix7:05 PM AEST, Campbelltown Stadium |
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There was a practically empty Leichhardt Oval this past Monday night, but the Bulls fans who did turn up certainly weren’t disappointed as their side claimed an all-important 2-1 win over Western United, a victory which boosted them all the way to 4th on the A-League ladder. Whilst for Wellington playing again in front of over 20,000 spectators it was Liam Reddy who showed up BIG as he saved Davila’s 90th minute spot-kick, a save which may well have ended the Nix’s campaign prematurely. However, regardless of who comes out on top in this should-be exciting affair you just know it’s going to produce the goods! The Bulls are fighting for a first week home finals match whilst there’s still the slim possibility that Wellington could be in the finals as well if certain results go their way. Do Ufuk Talay’s men have what it takes to get one over Macarthur and potentially change the direction of their entire season? Those out West will soon find out!
In Wellington’s most recent 2-2 draw vs Perth Hemed bagged a goal in the 25th min. Prior to that in their 2-1 win vs Western Sydney he scored in the 42nd minute. Before that they beat Western United 3-0 and he had one in the 63rd min. And prior to that against City he scored X2 in the 37th and 88th mins. That list goes on as he has been SENSATIONAL in the second part of this season. And on the campaign in total he has 10 goals from 20 games played, as well as two assists. The former Brighton man is strong and commanding up front and is pretty damn fearsome! Coming up against Matt Derbyshire is a challenge he’ll no doubt thrive being placed in and if he plays well then the Nix have a HUGE chance of winning this one. But if not then Macarthur probably get the goodies.
Betting tips: Pick there to be a goal in each half at $1.54 (UniBet)
Also pick each side to find the back of the net at $1.57 (Bet365)
And pick the 2nd half to be the highest scoring one at $2.00 (Bet365)
Saturday, June 5
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Brisbane Roar v Sydney FC3:05 PM AEST, Dolphin Stadium |
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This is definitely an INTERESTING clash right here as it has the potential to go a lot of ways. Given it was recently announced that Sydney will be without Redmayne, Grant and McGowan for the upcoming finals series due to Socceroo’s duties they may elect to rest one, two or perhaps even all three of them which would give Brisbane a chance of racking up a big score at home and potentially massively boost their Top Four hopes in the process. However if they do play Brisbane will be up against it despite their recent hot streak. Just two games ago they pummeled City 3-0 in front of their home fans via goals by O’Shea X2 (6th and 52nd mins) and Parsons (38th min). This was also a match in which they shot an impressive 5/13 on target. While for Sydney their last match was a resounding 3-goal (4-1) win in Adelaide! A match which saw Le Fondre find the back of the net twice + Bobo once, as well as Wood once. If O’Shea comes out early with a real intent to attack hard for the Roar then could they claim the upset win? We’ll just have to wait on the commanding Irishman and see.
This could very well potentially be a finals match-up in the second week given that Sydney currently reside in 2nd place and that the Roar are likely to move up a bit higher on the ladder. And with the past three contested clashes between these two sides all being draws history highlights that both this match and that potential finals clash will be simply amazing to watch. Last time they went at it the scores ended locked at 1-all with Wenzel-Halls striking in H1. That was before Bobo found the back of the net in H2. Whilst these two sides have a pretty fierce history against one another. Who could forget Janko’s wonder strike back in the day at Suncorp? Or when Brisbane won 5-2 at the SFS in 2013? Suffice to say these two teams produce plenty of memories and I’m sure that there’ll be lots more to come out of this enthralling affair as well.
Betting tips: Pick there to be a goal in each half at $1.65 (UniBet)
Also pick each side to find the back of the net at $1.70 (Bet365)
And pick the 2nd half to be the highest scoring one at $2.00 (Bet365)
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Central Coast v Western United5:05 PM AEST, Central Coast Stadium |
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Both teams head into this match in far different positions to that of what they should be. For the Mariners they have far exceeded the expectations placed upon them this campaign as they seek to inflict further damage on a seemingly constantly reeling Western United side. As for the Green & Black Mark Rudan is supposedly in a lot of trouble (future wise) and their past seven games have seen them lose all of them and by a combined score of 22-3! As if that was bad enough rival fans have now taken to mocking them online such has been their results lately as well as their perhaps not so good average crowd attendance on the season. And it didn’t get much better for them this past Monday night as Macarthur gave them a stern lesson in how to play proper Football as they won 2-1. For the Central Coast as well their match was a horror show as they lost the latest edition of the F3 Derby 2-0. The venues for those matches were Leichhardt Oval and Bluetongue Stadium respectively. Do Western United have any saving grace left or will they be fed to the wolves again without Berisha? Simply put, Diamanti will have to play extremely well to make up for the loss of his partner in crime.
A massive 18 goals have been produced over these two sides five games vs one another. The last score was 1-0 to W.U. and before that it was 3-2 to the Central Coast. Before that W.U. smashed it 6-2, as well as 3-0 prior to that. Whilst the inaugural clash was a 1-0 Mariners victory. In the latest 1-0 win at UTAS Stadium it was former Mariner Connor Pain who struck gold against his former side scoring the only goal of the match and incredibly early on in just the 5th minute with a commanding left footed shot after the assist from Berisha. While Kuol scored twice in the 3-2 encounter and late on too, as he found the back of the net in the 77th and 81st minutes. Expect Kuol and Co to be the heroes this time around as United’s struggles should translate well into this game unfortunately for them and their loyal fan-base.
Betting tips: Pick there to be a goal in each half at $1.53 (UniBet)
Also pick the Mariners to score last at $1.44 (Bet365)
And pick the 2nd half to be the highest scoring one at $2.00 (Bet365)
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Newcastle Jets v Perth Glory7:10 PM AEST, McDonald Jones Stadium |
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With 24 games played so far and on 33 points, four off a finals spot, Perth somehow miraculously remain in the hunt for what would be an electric, yet also somewhat unexpected finals berth. Regardless they’re going to give it their all in this one under Richard Garcia as it’s do or die right here for them, literally! And if they want to win they’ll have to score goals and for them that’s a case of looking no further then former Melbourne City FFA Cup winner Bruno Fornaroli. He has 12 strikes to his name this season as well as a fairly solid five goal assists as well. Whenever Fornaroli has the ball he goes hard out 100% of the time and he doesn’t know what the two words give up means. Not too mention he’s also fairly clinical and just for good measure he’s outright third on the top goal-scorers list for this current campaign. Can Fornaroli outshine a Newcastle side attempting to avoid last-place? It’s possible but the Jets too have lots to play for here so it should be a closely contested match-up!
A huge congrats needs to go to Newcastle as their last game was a humongous 2-0 win over the Mariners in the F3 Derby on the Central Coast. And what a five-star performance it was a well as they scored through O’Donovan in the 27th minute and then just six minutes later through Mauragis. And they also shot a very impressive 4/6 on target despite them owning just 42% of the ball. Can they perform that well again in this clash vs the Glory? It was just their fourth win of the season so it may be difficult to replicate that sort of a game as well, but this is also their last game of the season so why not right? However prior to this Newy’s form was incredibly shaky as they hadn’t claimed a win in 14 straight appearances! So it’s hard to tell which version of the Jets will turn up for this one. But if one thing is guaranteed it’s that regardless of their overall play, THEY’LL TURN UP FOR THE FIGHT!
Betting tips: Pick there to be a goal in each half at $1.57 (UniBet)
Also pick the Glory to score last at $1.72 (Bet365)
And pick the 2nd half to be the highest scoring one at $2.00 (Bet365)
Sunday, June 6
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Melbourne Victory v Melbourne City4:05 PM AEST, Marvel Stadium |
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This is a match that will unfortunately due to the current COVID situation in Melbourne be played in front of no fans. But maybe that’s best for the Victory given that their last game was in front of nobody as they smashed Western United to bits, winning 6 goals to 1! And also perhaps the lack of noise will allow them to concentrate more especially so given that they’ve gone down in the past two Derbies by two record scores of 7-nil and 6-nil. And given City have already officially sewn up 1st place they’ll be well-placed to rest a lot of players for this affair, so all of these differing factors give the Victory an amazing chance of finishing their season on a high right here. And given Newcastle are just a point behind them on the table (18 vs 17) but have also played a match less then them, Melbourne also have all the motivation in the world to do well here if they didn’t already. Will the Victory be able to produce in what is their final game of the season or will City come out as clinical winners once again? Regardless it’s primed to be another memorable Melbourne Derby.
Rudy Gestede has five goals this season for the Victory and one of them was in their damaging five-goal win against Western United in the 22nd minute of the clash. However that’s also the same number as teammate Kambosa whilst less talented players such as Simon (10) and O’Donovan (7) have more then him this season. So on the overall basis of things it’s pretty safe to say that the former Villa man and Football League Championship winner has been a bust. His pedigree alone would put him amongst the upper echelon of great A-League players, but that’s all it is … pedigree. He’s offered not much else to Melbourne this season and has really struggled to adapt to Australian Football. And this really should be his final game for the club. Look for him to go out with a BANG. Now whether that’s a good bang or a bad bang will really depend on how he plays, but it’s something interesting to look out for anyway.
Betting tips: Pick there to be a goal in each half at $1.44 (UniBet)
Also pick each side to find the back of the net at $1.53 (Bet365)
And pick the 2nd half to be the highest scoring one at $1.95 (Bet365)
Best Bets of the Round
Pick Matt Derbyshire to score anytime vs Wellington at $1.95 (Bet365)
Also pick Adam Le Fondre to score anytime vs Brisbane at $1.90 (Bet365)
And pick Bruno Fornaroli to score anytime vs Newcastle at $1.95 (Bet365)