The following are previews with betting tips for Matchweek 12 of the 2021/22 A-League Men season.
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Saturday, January 29
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Brisbane Roar vs Western Sydney Wanderers7:45PM AEDT, Moreton Daily Stadium |
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Despite previously positing two exceptionally good results against Sydney FC, Brisbane was undone 3-1 by a pesky Adelaide side at Dolphin Stadium. And despite their opening goal being fashioned just 2-minutes in through Nikola Mileusnic, it wasn’t to be as they leaked strikes in the 24th, 48th and 85th minutes of the match. This has left Warren Moon’s men in 12th and five-points off a finals berth.As for Western Sydney, their inconsistent season has seen them yield just one win from six attempts so far as they’ve struggled to produce for under-fire coach Carl Robinson. With their latest result coming in the form of a topsy-turvy 3-3 draw against City at AAMI Park. A clash which saw them score twice in the opening 9-minutes before eventually needing to create an equalizer via Keijiro Ogawa in the 68th minute, with the Japanese Attacker bagging his first ‘Red & Black’ strike.
Based off everything that’s occurred this campaign, neither side is a particularly safe pick to take this one out. For the Roar, they’ll be forced to rely heavily upon Mileusnic, the man who possesses a Master’s Degree in Petroleum Engineering. Already this season he’s engineered two goals and nine shot assists. No doubt he’ll be expected to produce more offensive firepower when placed against the likes of James Troisi and Jack Rodwell, with the latter securing his debut A-League goal against City last time out. These three players will have an influential say as to which way the end result sways.
Betting tips: Pick the Wanderers to win at $2.87 (Sportsbet)
Also look for Western Sydney to open the scoring at $2.10 (Sportsbet)
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Western United vs Melbourne City7:45PM AEDT, AAMI Park |
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The Melbourne Derby between Western United and Melbourne City is always something truly special. On the one hand you have the ‘relatively speaking’ new boys on the block who are still trying to prove themselves within Australian Football, led by Socceroos legend John Aloisi as the man in charge of it all. As for City, after last season’s Championship win, they’ve gone up a few pegs in Victorian sports and will attempt to continue to display to the rest of the competition that it was indeed no fluke. Regardless of who you’re backing here, this is undoubtedly the match of the round!
When these two teams last locked horns at AAMI Park earlier this season, all that separated the two rivals was a finely tuned Dylan Wenzel-Halls effort in the 20th minute within the 1-0 score-line. That was despite the light blue side of Melbourne owning 65% possession of the ball and taking 21 shots to the ‘Green & Blacks’ 6. Meanwhile City also had a shot rattle off the woodwork. Patrick Kisnorbo’s side also completed 85% of their passes to the oppositions 69%.
Chances are if City dominate the statistical side of things again, then Western may not get so lucky this time around. With all due respect to Allesandro Diamanti & Co, City are still a different beast compared to them, despite Western’s 4/7 record so far. Jamie Maclaren now has five goals on the season, leading the goal-scoring charts alongside Craig Goodwin, while he opened the scoring in his teams most recent 3-1 away win vs the Mariners. Even in his absence though there’s still Andrew Nabbout, a renowned poacher, with his four goals and 17 shot assists, in what could potentially be a massive game from the incumbent Australian international. While prior to that in the League, they’ve scored two, three and two goals in each of their encounters. This may prove a step to far for the ‘Green & Black’ to overcome and Melbourne may potentially run rampant.
Betting tips: Look for City to triumph at $2.00 (Bet365)
Also look for there to be over 1.5 goals at $1.22 (Bet365)
Sunday, January 30
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Sydney FC vs Central Coast Mariners4:05PM AEDT, Leichardt Oval |
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The ‘Sky Blues’ latest performance was as courageous as they come, missing the likes of Andrew Redmayne, Ryan Grant and Joel King to international duty + Adam Le Fondre, Kosta Barbarouses, Luke Brattan and more to injury, they stood up big against the Victory. Despite playing the ladder leaders away in Melbourne they put on a real show, drawing 2-2 in what was a brilliant effort from both sides. Almost as soon as Robbie Kruse had handed his side a 2-1 lead in the 77th-minute, it was Bobo who struck back with venom just four-minutes later, with his strike sneaking in. That proving to be a brilliant way for him to open his account for the season!
Meanwhile for the Mariners, the last time they contested a competitive hit-out was their 3-1 defeat at the hands of City inside of Bluetongue Stadium. Despite Marco Urena performing brilliantly as per usual and equalizing with his commanding left-footed shot late in H1, it wasn’t enough to hold on for the draw with. The Central Coast now sit in 7th and only one-point behind 6th placed Sydney. The ‘Sky Blues’ mathematically own a finals spot, yet a loss here and they drop right out again with both Nick Montgomery’s team, as well as a host of others quickly closing in on them.
Can Sydney’s unforeseen result at AAMI Park well and truly kickstart their campaign into gear? Or will the Central Coast look to spoil things again? For the first time ever after their heated FFA Cup encounter both Steve Corcia and Montgomery took to the media room together in what was an A-League first ever dual-coaches Press Conference. However, given all that’s on the line here, don’t expect the two gentlemen to be as acrimonious to each other as they were last time out. The heat is rising fast for Corica, while a defeat for Montgomery would also leave quite a sour taste. Similar to their last match-up, this is going to be one hell of a clash!
Betting tips: Pick the ‘Sky Blues’ to edge this encounter out at $1.70 (Sportsbet)
Also look for 1+ goals to be scored in each half at $1.63 (Sportsbet)
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Newcastle Jets vs Adelaide United6:45PM AEDT, McDonald Jones Stadium |
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Craig Goodwin has rightfully been called up once again to represent the Socceroos. However, his absence is a massive blow for the ‘Reds’ who have recently gained a bit of momentum, with the crafty Attacker being one of the major reasons behind their rich vein of form. This leaves Mohamed Toure (17-years-of-age) and Stefan Mauk (26-years-of-age) with massive roles to play in their contest against the Jets. Meanwhile for Newcastle, with their last game coming on the 19th of December last year vs the ‘Bulls’, well over a month ago, it remains to been seen how rusty they’ll be, or whether they can just click straight into gear once again.
For Toure, he is still quite a raw prospect, but he has the speed, and he has the potential. As mentioned before, Newcastle will perhaps be rusty, so this game represents the perfect chance for him to really click into gear. Carl Veart strongly trusts him, having started his sides recent 3-1 rout of Brisbane, as well as having played six matches this campaign. While Mauk has the experience and the eye-for-goal to match as he’s proven a lethal alternative to Goodwin at various stages this season. And with his departure from Adelaide to Japan seemingly a foregone conclusion, this may represent his final opportunity to display his game to ‘Reds’ supporters all over.
Moving onto Newcastle, Taylor Regan was recently announced as a signing for the revamped franchise and what an addition he is! The Defender previously played 68-games for the club and was universally loved during his time there. He forged a reputation as a tough bloke and somebody who never gave in. Hopefully, he’ll be able to display some of that against Adelaide and it’s awesome to see him playing Football back in Australia, via his return from Malaysia.
Betting tips: Choose both teams to feature on the score-sheet at $1.61 (Bet365)
Also looked for there to be over 2.5 goals fashioned within the game at $1.80 (Bet365)
Best Bets of the Round: Look for City to triumph at $2.00 (Bet365)
Also look for there to be over 1.5 goals at $1.22 (Bet365)