The following are previews with betting tips for selected fixtures in Round 20 of the 2024/25 A-Leagues Mens season.
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Newcastle Jets vs Brisbane RoarFriday February 21, 7:35pm |
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Lachie Rose has bagged five goals from his last seven appearances for the Jets. Meanwhile Japanese Midfielder Kota Mizunuma has three assists from just for games for the club. The attacking duo have been on fire lately and have formed a deadly partnership with one another, helping propel Newcastle up to 11th place on the ladder and now only seven points off a finals berth. Something that would have been considered almost a no-go at the start of the campaign. The latest of their wins came just last round in a shock upset versus Adelaide, as at Coopers Stadium they toppled them 2-1. And they did it in spite of owning just 36% possession of the ball, in addition to shooting 5/11 on target in comparison to the ‘Reds’ 8/25. The hosts are certainly looking to be in great stead for this matchup.
Meanwhile for the visitors things have unfortunately been a lot more difficult as of late. They currently are dead-last on the ladder and have collected just a solitary six-points through 15 games so far, as Ruben Zadkovich’s position has become increasingly and increasingly more untenable then ever before, with many supporters calling for his immediate sacking. They have won just one of their last 11 games on the road and their latest result was a stuttering 1-1 draw against Wellington at Sky Stadium. A point makes it seem like more of a positive result then it actually was for the Roar as they landed just three of their eight shots on target. They also gave away nine fouls to the oppositions five. Even if everything goes right for them they’ll still only have a very slim chance of doing anything of note against the red hot ‘Novocastrians’.
Newcastle have conjured up 14 goals over five of their last nine home games. At McDonald Jones Stadium they have been electric lately. And you can expect it to continue with another Jets victory by 2+ goals.
Betting tips: Pick an easy Jets dub to be the end result at $2.05 (Bet365)
Also pick them to open the scoring at $1.61 (Bet365)
And back Lachie Rose to score anytime at $2.60 (Bet365)
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Auckland FC vs Wellington PhoenixSaturday February 22, 3:00pm |
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Auckland FC have won the first ever two contested Derbies against the Wellington Phoenix in what is slated to be another near capacity crowd at Go Media Stadium. During a ‘Nix’ game last season a streaker burst onto the field donning a ‘Black Knights’ jersey in what was dubbed by many as a publicity stunt to promote the newly founded club. There’s been sparks flying at the affairs and on social media. Each respective supporter base already appears to have a strong disdain towards one another. Steve Corica also recently lamented that he wanted his side to be the first New Zealand side to win a trophy in the A-League, whilst it wasn’t too long ago that the ‘Black Knights’ supporters were holding up a quite noticeable banner saying “Auckland Capital of Kiwi Football”. This matchup is massive having already held attendances of 26,253 and 26,252 spectators over it’s short, but storied history. And on Saturday afternoon another chapter gets added!
Auckland FC have won six of their eight home games this season, with there also being a draw in there too. The only anomaly was their shock defeat to Western United a little while back. Steve Corica’s newcomers are playing a very defensively tight style of Football that has seen teams struggle to break them down all season long. Case in point is that the Phoenix have scored just a single strike over the course of their two Derbies against them. Led by captain Hiroki Sakai, a 74x capped Japanese International Defender and Alex Paulsen, last campaigns A-League Goalkeeper of the Year, the club is in very steady feet and hands. Whilst Corica himself has almost seamlessly transferred his tactics over from Sydney, where he won four trophies as a manager, through to Auckland. Defence is where this game will be won and unfortunately for the ‘Nix’, the ‘Black Knights’ have been just too good at that this season, leaking only 12 goals through 16 games played so far.
Betting tips: Look for the ‘Black Knights’ to claim a tightly contested victory at $1.52 (UniBet)
Also look for the first goal to be theirs at $1.36 (Bet365)
And also pick Auckland to score over 1.5 goals and for Wellington to have under 1.5 at $1.61 and $1.20 respectively (Bet365)
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Melbourne Victory vs Melbourne CitySaturday February 22, 7:35pm |
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The Melbourne Derby has taken a bit of a hit in recent years. Ever since in the infamous invasion onto AAMI Park, as well as the flares and the bucket assault on Tom Glover, supporters have shied away from attending what was once one of the A-League’s biggest draw cards. But as someone who has been lucky enough to attend a few myself, despite being a fan of neither team, by not going your just doing a disservice to yourself because it is phenomenal! The noise is electric, you can barely hear yourself think and for 90+ minutes you get to witness some fantastic Football as two sides who hate each others guts continuously go at one another throats. Kevin Muscat & Archie Thompson started it off. Then the likes of Tim Cahill continued it on when he scored his infamous goal from just inside the halfway line and proceeded to celebrate by using the corner flag as a boxing bag. And now the likes of Bruno Fornaroli and Aziz Behich are left to continue the legacy. So regardless of whether you are a Melbournian-local or watch the games through Paramount+, make sure you tune in because this one is going to be special!
In terms of both sides form as of late, both Victory and City have been a tad inconsistent. The Victory have won three and have lost three of their latest six clashes. Meanwhile City have won four and lost three of their last seven. Last time out for Arthur Dile’s Men they won 1-0 at home against the Phoenix, yet prior to that they went down 3-0 to the Jets in Newcastle. Whilst for Aurelio Vidmar’s youthful side last round they bested the Glory 1-0 at HBF Park, before losing 1-0 to the ‘Reds’ at Coopers Stadium. Whilst the overall tightness of the A-League this season means that a Victory victory would potentially land them just five-points off 1st and into equal 2nd on the ladder. Whilst for 4th placed City they could potentially go just a point off of 2nd. With everything to play for and the regular season nearing its conclusion, both these sides still have many more questions than answers.
Betting tips: Look for there to be 1+ goals in each half at $1.61 (Bet365)
Also look for the total strikes scored to be over 3.5 in a smokey bet at $3.00 (Bet365)
And back Nikos Vergos to bang one into the back of the net at $2.60 (Bet365)