The following are previews with betting tips for Round 3 of the 2022/23 A-League Mens season.
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Friday, October 21
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Western United v Macarthur FC7:45pm AEDT, AAMI Park |
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The reigning champions in the ‘Green & Black’ host the unruly Bulls in what is sure to be a fire cracker of a matchup. Despite playing twice at AAMI Park this season, John Aloisi’s troops have not won an A-League match there this season since their famous Grand Final triumph of last campaign. Whereas in comparison for Dwight Yorke’s Macarthur they head into this clash off the back of a 2-0 thrashing versus Adelaide last round. A clash that saw them win despite leaking 21 shots and having owned just 37% of the ball. However with Goal Keeper Jamie Young having most recently made four saves against Sydney FC, Western United will be up for the battle against a high power offensive team. Expect a brilliant match to open Round 3 of the new season.
Western United should win this clash and here’s three reasons why;
1.Their suspect finishing or even a complete lack there of can’t go on forever. Against Sydney last round they attempted 11 shots, five of which found the target. Whilst prior to that versus City they still had nine shots, four of which found the target. James Troisi has come awful close to breaking his locks for the campaign, as has Dylan Wenzel-Halls. Meanwhile Connor Pain is certainly no A-League slouch either. They’re bound to start sourcing strikes soon.
2.Jamie Young is also a goal repellent, he is what a spray is to a mosquito, Attackers hate playing against him, while Defenders love to play alongside him. Putting aside his four saves versus Sydney last weekend, he made seven in total the week before vs City! An additionally improved showing from his Defence should help put down the clamps on Yorke’s all-out attacking Bulls.
3.Reason number three they are and I repeat THEY ARE, THE REIGNING CHAMPIONS OF AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL. The best sides find a way to win when they’re seemingly down and out and I have every reason to believe that Western United will display those strengths in this matchup.
Betting tips: Look for the ‘Green & Black’ to claim a much needed win at $2.06 (BoomBet)
Also look for both teams to find a goal at $1.65 (BoomBet)
Saturday, October 22
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Newcastle Jets v Wellington Phoenix5:00pm AEDT, McDonald Jones Stadium |
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Beka Mikeltadze, the ‘Georgian King’ and Ben Waine ‘the scintillating Kiwi’ are the two names on everybody’s lips at the moment as these two teams prepare to clash off in the Hunter Valley region. For Mikeltadze, he produced a special 93rd-minute winner against Perth at home most recently, thanks to a beautiful through pass from Jaushua Sotirio. Whilst for Waine, he opened the scoring in the second half for Wellington last weekend, producing an absolute peach of a long range goal that had rival Goal Keeper Danny Vukovic beaten from all angles. Mikeltadze now has 26 goals from 14 games for the Jets. While Waine has locked down 31 strikes since his time with the first/second team began in 2018/19. These two players will no doubt be looking to put on a show for the people of Newcastle this Saturday. night.
From a possible recent 18-points at home, Newcastle have collected only seven in their home region, which means that for a plucky Phoenix side, this match is absolutely there for the taking. However, they’ll have to defy their recent form against Arthur Papas’s side in order to claim it though, as their last two matches against Newcastle have both been hefty 4-0 defeats. 4-0 Defeats back-to-back! In their latest H2H ‘Newy’ went 7/20 on target! Yet Wellington were scoreless from 14 attempts! Waine as mentioned before, may be the Man to help rectify those woeful statistics. Regardless of the games outcome, I repeat we will be witnessing a fine, fine show on Saturday night.
Betting tips: Look for both teams to have some fun and score 1+ goal each at $1.60 (BoomBet)
Also look for the first half to see some action with 1+ goals fashioned within it at $1.33 (BoomBet)
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Western Sydney Wanderers v Brisbane Roar5:00pm AEDT, CommBank Stadium |
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The Wanderers are no joke this season, having won 2/2 games to start the season off with. Now for Brisbane, they’ve struggled mightily under Warren Moon in comparison, having collected just one-point from a possible six. The ‘Red & Black’ are playing exciting and surprising Football at the moment, with no more evidence needed than their 1-0 win over the Victory last Saturday evening at AAMI Park. They fashioned the only strike of the entire encounter despite taking just five shots throughout and having had just 39% possession of the ball. And the goal scorer was Mr. Toimislav Mrcela, a Defender who has registered just 12 passionate strikes throughout his professional 153-match career. Now for Brisbane, despite having a one-man advantage from the 47th-minute onwards, they still went down 2-0 to City at Suncorp Stadium. The Roar will need to ROARRRRR to have any chance of claiming something out of this matchup.
Brisbane, as unlikely as it seems, do in fact have something working in their favour for this tasty clash, they’ve actually won five of their last eight clashes against Mark Rudan’s side. Not only that, the last time they faced off it was a Luke Ivanovic inspired double which saw them collect a convincing 3-1 victory at CommBank Stadium. Now they desperately need the old heads this time around in the form of Charlie Austin, Jay O’Shea and Riku Danzaki to start firing them in for the team. Because many supporters are now asking questions of Moon and whether or not he will ever ‘shine’ again. Moon is a smart Man and he’ll have highlighted in the leadup to this game the piss poor service that Austin has been receiving as of late. Pick a vastly improved Roar side to turn up and really give it to the Wanderers, while Austin may even grab a cheeky debut goal.
Betting tips: Look for both teams to find refuge in the back of the net at $1.66 (Bet365)
Also look for the match to have 9+ collective corners occur at $1.50 (Bet365)
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Melbourne Victory v Melbourne City7:45pm AEDT, AAMI Park |
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Who doesn’t love a good ol fashioned Melbourne Derby! And with both teams seemingly at the peak of their powers, now seems to be the perfect time to contest one. And it is certainly anybody’s for the taking, with three out of their last four contests versus one another having resulted in a draw. In March of this year it was an exciting 1-1 draw, as both teams found the back of the net in the first half. Whilst before that, in what was a 2-2 stalemate there was some late drama. First off in the 81st-minute Nick D’Agostino score a ‘D’Agger’ to even the scores up. Then secondly 90+6 in Jamie Maclaren received a red card. The same Maclaren who recently posted to Instagram mocking his old sides supporters in the form of Brisbane, after their 2-0 away win. Yet if there’s one team that ‘Macca’ hates playing more than the Roar, it’s the Victory. We are in for a simply mouth watering clash right here.
The passion, the intensity and the talent are just a few of the things that you can expect to see from this clash. Whilst here are three more;
1.Nani. Sure he played his debut home game versus the Wanderers last week, but City are a different breed to them. They’re only two seasons removed from being the ‘champs’ and they have the recent wood over the Victory. This is the GAME where big players leave their mark on the A-League, think Honda, Cahill and going back even further, Villa and Thompson just to name a few. Expect him to exert his influence on this match in the way that only a creative genius like former Champions League victor Nani can.
2.Jamie Maclarennnnn!!!!! As if he wasn’t already tearing the league to shreds with his well-poised and collected finishing, this campaign from just two games played he’s already bagged three goals to his name. Just like his rival man in the form of Nani, Maclaren too is a player for the BIG OCCASIONS. And at the moment he’s just scoring for fun, so expect him to get at least one strike in this evenly matched encounter.
3.Everything else! It’s a Melbourne Derby, one of the best around in all of Asian Football, so expect the unexpected.
Betting tips: Bet on a commanding Victory performance and win at $2.80 (TexBet)
Also look for them to score first at $2.20 (Bet365)
Sunday, October 23
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Sydney FC v Adelaide United3:00pm AEDT, Allianz Stadium |
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All in all Harry Van Dae Saag represented Sydney FC on 50 occasions, but over the off-season the popular young (22) Defender swapped jerseys to instead represent the mighty ‘Reds’. And now he’ll be facing off against his old employers in just a few days time. During the 2019-20 campaign he won the Championship/Premiership double with the ‘Sky Blues’. Whilst incredibly his debut game for the club was a friendly against PSG, in which he was placed to mark Kylian Mbappe. Yet given how Sydney performed last season, he may well receive quite the frosty reception at the new Allianz Stadium. Ben Warland made that switch over the off-season too and he played for Sydney 42X in the A-League. He also featured prominently throughout multiple Asian Champions League adventures for the club. And despite their decent form being a bit shabby, these two Men would no doubt like to rectify it against a franchise they used to call home. If nothing else pick Adelaide to really give it to the hosts because of these two lads.
These sides don’t mind facing each other in a big game or two. It wasn’t all that long ago that Sydney and Adelaide were battling each other in the finals at Kogarah, not too mention an FFA Cup (now Australia Cup) Final, whilst they’ve had a myriad of heated battles at Allianz Stadium as well which should continue on with this encounter. With Carl Veart, the ‘Reds’ head coach, obviously alluding recently to him wanting to do everything in his power to get Craig Goodwin on the plane to Qatar for the World Cup, expect an awesome Adelaide performance centred around the Attacking Midfielder. He’s torched Sydney in the past and he doesn’t mind a special goal or two against them either. If the ‘Reds’ do pull one out of the bag here then expect Goodwin to have played a MASSIVE part in it all. This underrated rivalry will only be added to via this tasty encounter.
Betting tips: Bet on a ‘Sky Blue’ victory at $2.01 (BoomBet)
Also pick them to fashion the games last goal at $1.77 (BoomBet)
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Central Coast Mariners v Perth Glory5:00pm AEDT, Central Coast Stadium |
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From these two sides last seven games against one another they’ve been split right down the middle with two victories each + three draws. Whilst only one out of those seven has been decided by more than a goal. The last time they met in Gosford it was an incredibly entertaining clash, in a match that ended as a 1-1 draw. Jason Cummings drew first blood 58-minutes in, courtesy of a beautiful Marco Urena assist. However in the dying stages of the game, 90+3 in to be exact, Daniel Stynes took it upon himself to break the hearts of the Mariners faithful with a decisive equaliser. And both sides weren’t afraid to flex their muscles either, with the Central Coast shooting 6/13 on target and the Glory going 4/12, as both Mark Birighitti and and Cameron Cook had big days in-between the sticks. Now with the Mariners attempting to go even further then last season and the Glory searching for a rebound year, at the very least this is sure to be one hell of a fun game to watch.
Jason Cummings the man affectionately known as the ‘Cum Dog’ is looming large over this match. He’s another lad who wants to make it to Qatar and rightfully so with how he’s played with the Mariners so far. VAR disallowed his spectacular effort vs the Phoenix last round, but that didn’t stop him from doing what he does best, as he still found refuge in the back of the net 64-minutes on. The ex-Dundee FC Striker now has 11 strikes from 22 games for the Central Coast and against a still-building Perth side, he’ll be seeking a fun day out so to speak. And when the ‘Cum Dog’ demands fun he gets it. The Mariners are looking strong and sexy at the moment and with all due respect you’d pick them to pick up an easy win in this H2H.
Betting tips: Look for a Mariners win at $1.90 (TexBet)
Also look for the second half to be the highest scoring one at $2.03 (BoomBet)
Best Bets of the Round: Melbourne Victory vs Melbourne City
Bet on a commanding Victory performance and win at $2.80 (TexBet)
Also look for them to score first at $2.20 (Bet365)