The following are previews with betting tips for Round 13 of the 2017/18 A-League season.
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Friday, December 29
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Melbourne Victory v Newcastle Jets7:50 PM AEDT, AAMI Park |
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Recent Games: The last time these two teams met, the Jets ran riot producing a 4-1 scoreline and in the process absolutely humiliated the Victory. That day Barbarouses opened the scoring in the 5th minute for Melbourne, but from there it was all one way traffic as the Novocastrian’s piled on 4 straight goals. Andrew Nabbout bagged a double that match while the others to find the back of the net were Georgievski and Champness. However of the past 5 meetings between Melbourne and Newcastle, the Victory have won 3 of them (with a draw and a Jets victory also there).
Will Melbourne continue their historical dominance or will Nabbout be the hero again?
What Happened Last Round: Dean Bouzanis gifted the Victory a win in the derby last Saturday night after conceding a foul in the box. Mark Milligan then stepped up to the plate to deliver and calmly hand his side a 96th minute win over their arch-rivals. The win leaves Melbourne in 4th spot and now only a single win of City. Despite the way in which the game was won for the Victory. Their is a strong argument to be made that they deserved it due to the fact that they held the ball more than their opponents (52%) and also managed to fire of 11 shots. While for the Jets, they are still putting the pressure on Sydney FC after a Manchester City like performance, in which they absolutely hammered the WSW 4-0. The Jets opened the scoring in the 10th minute through Koutroumbis but then had to wait again until the 60th minute to make it 2-0 courtesy of a Jason Hoffman strike. Kantarovski and Ugarkovic rounded out the scoring for the Novocatrian’s. Of the 21 shots Newcastle took, 9 of them were on target and they absolutely deserved the victory. Western Sydney also managed only 3 shots on target for the duration of the game.
What Should Happen: A Newcastle win by at least 2+ goals. Melbourne are coming of a nice win over their cross-town rivals. However Newcastle are 2nd best for a reason and are being led by the in-form Andrew Nabbout (6 goals and 5 assists this season). Combined with this, this campaign Newcastle have a goal difference of 16, while the Victory’s is -1. Look to see the Jets etch out a relatively easy win over what should still be a strong Melbourne side.
Betting tip: Pick Newcastle to claim the win at $3.64 (Pinnacle)
Also pick them to strike first at $2.37 (Bet365)
Saturday, December 30
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Adelaide United v Brisbane Roar5:35 PM AEDT, Coopers Stadium |
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Recent Games: Adelaide are 2 from 2 in their most recent match-ups against the Roar. While in both games they have found the back of the net twice while also keeping Brisbane to only 1 strike apiece each game. However the most recent match was as exciting as one can get with Massimo Maccarone scoring in only the 8th minute before 2 United goals from the 88th-92nd minutes of the game saw them steal the match and the 3 points away from the QLD based side. Absalonsen was the 92nd minute goal scorer giving his side a dramatic victory.
Will there be more late drama for Adelaide or will Brisbane come out victorious in more calm circumstances?
What Happened Last Round: Last round Brisbane lost their 6th game for the season, a disappointing 2-1 loss to Perth. This campaign they have put up only 14 goals while conceding a total of 18 strikes. They have also scored 1 or less goals this season a total of 9 times from 13 attempts. Their top goal-scorer is 38 years old while reports have surfaced (once again) that some players aren’t being payed on time. Some even suggesting that a few Roar players have actually had to borrow money just to be able to pay their bills on time. On the field it’s not much better with them only being 4 points ahead of last place and 2nd last themselves. While they have produced only a mere 2 victories for the season. In addition to this, in their last game against Perth they had more shots, more possession and a better passing accuracy, but still found a way to lose. Times are tough for John Aloisi’s men, but coming up against an Adelaide side sitting inside the Top 6, it won’t get any easier.
What Should Happen: Brisbane’s woes continuing. No matter which way you look at this game, United are bound to get the win. This being especially so if you look at recent form. Adelaide have won 3 of their past 5 matches while the Roar have lost 2 of their past 3 matches. The other was a goalless draw against the bottom-placed Phoenix in which the Roar failed to convert on not a single one of their shots. While in addition to this, United have several different players capable of finding the back of the net, but if Maccarone fails for Brisbane, that’s pretty much it.
Betting tip: Pick Adelaide to win at $2.06 (Pinnacle)
Also pick them to score first at $1.73 (Ladbrokes)
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Sydney FC v Perth Glory7:50 PM AEDT, Allianz Stadium |
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Recent Games: Sydney have won their past 7 games against Perth for a massive aggregate score of 22-2. That’s right, 22 goals to 2 goals!!!. The 2 most recent games have seen Sydney win 5-0 and have 5 different players get their name on the score-sheet in some very good team efforts. The last time the Glory defeated the Sky Blues, Shane Smeltz still resided in Sydney. Perth however did get 7 shots of last time in a somewhat small positive for them in their defeat at the hands of the Sky Blues.
Will Sydney reign supreme once again or will the Glory convert what they have in front of goal this time around?
What Happened Last Round: A Bobo hat-trick (now has 10 goals this campaign) + a Mierzejewski strike saw Sydney come out as comfortable 4-1 winners over Wellington in New Zealand. Kaluderovic was the solitary goal-scorer for the Phoenix. The Sky Blues in total had less shots than Wellington as well as less corners, but great teams find a way to win no matter what. They also gave away more fouls than the Phoenix as well (12 vs 10). The victory sees Sydney now currently in 1st place with 31 points, while Adrian is now starting to come alight with 6 goals on the season. As for Perth, after their VAR fueled 2-1 win over Brisbane, they are only a win of 3rd spot. Massimo Maccarone had the Roar leading 1-0 after the 38th minute. But during the match he also had a goal incorrectly ruled out for offside (despite the fact that he wasn’t). It looked as though the home side would be heading towards a rare win until within the space of 3 minutes late in the game, Perth scored twice through Andy Keogh and Diego Castro to steal the win and break the hearts of Brisbane fans everywhere. They had less possession, less shots and a worse passing accuracy, but still found a way and a will to win. It was their 5th victory of the season.
What Should Happen: Bobo scores another 1 or 2 goals. He already bagged 3 against Wellington and currently leads the A-League’s goal-scorer charts this season with 10. He has more than Ross McCormack and Andy Keogh combined this campaign. While he has scored 4 times from his past 5 matches against the Glory. He is an absolute beast when it comes to finding the back of the net and this game should prove to be no different. Look to see him do what he has done pretty much every other match this season and get a strike and lead his beloved Sky Blues to another win.
Betting tip: Pick the Sky Blues to claim the victory at $1.44 (William Hill)
Also pick Bobo to find the back of the net at least once at $1.53 (Bet365)
Sunday, December 31
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Central Coast Mariners v Wellington Phoenix7:00 PM AEDT, Central Coast Stadium |
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Recent Games: 4-1 was the humiliating score-line the last time these 2 teams faced off, and with the Phoenix’s horrible week in tow, it probably won’t get much better. The now departed Dario Vidosic was the only goal-scorer for the Phoenix that day, while Wellington weren’t helped by the fact that Kaluderovic scored an unfortunate own-goal. While De Silva also got a rare strike that day for the CCM. In a telling stat for Wellington, during the match they managed to get of a total of 8 shots, but in their now characteristic poor finishing skills, only 2 of them managed to be on target. They also gave away 12 fouls in another bad statistic from the game for them.
Will the CCM come up with another emphatic win or will Wellington be more clinical in front of goal this time around?
What Happened Last Round: 12-4 is the aggregate score of the Phoenix’s past 5 games, and it’s not in their favour. They have only 6 points from 11 played matches this season, 1 win in total and sit dead-last with the next worst placed team, the Roar, still a win and a draw ahead of them. Combined with that, last round they got beaten 4-1 on their home turf by Sydney FC, despite producing 13 shots to their 10 and getting 3 more corners than them. As well as this recently marquee player Gui Finkler departed the club, while more recent than that, Dario Vidosic (Wellington’s 2nd highest goal-scorer this season) and his father/ assistant coach Rado, departed the club. This while there are rumours surfacing that the head-coach has lost the dressing room and some players aren’t happy with him. What more could go wrong for the lovable NZ club? When the Phoenix face the Mariners, this is all of what they have to overcome. That and the fact that the last time they met they were whipped by the Central Coast to the tune of 4 goals to 1.
What Should Happen: A close game. Wellington showed last round, that despite all the of field s**t that would have derailed most other clubs, they still stayed strong. Despite conceding 4, they were only down a goal at half-time and were arguably the better in the 2nd half, despite conceding another 2. They did their fan base proud despite the loss. This while the Mariners have won 2 of their past 4 matches. In the process they have put up 5 goals as well as conceding 4. While despite their points difference, the CCM have only won 2 more games than the Phoenix this season. This game could very well prove to be a draw.
Betting tip: Pick Andrija Kaludjerovic to score at any point during the match at $2.60 (Bet365)
While also pick both teams to find the back of the net at $1.60 (William Hill)
Monday, January 1
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Western Sydney Wanderers v Melbourne City7:50 PM AEDT, ANZ Stadium |
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Recent Games: 1-all was the score when these two sides met earlier this season. Sotirio opened the scoring in the 19th minute for the Wanderers and in the process propelled them into an unlikely lead. However it wasn’t to be as Ross McCormack evened things up in the 55th minute, thus meaning the two teams had to settle for the tie. Neither squads were shy in front of goal this game taking a combined 27 shots, with a decent 14 of them being on target. While City would’ve felt particularly frustrated about not taking all 3 points from the game after they had 2 shots blocked and created 3 big chances. Fouling was also high in this game with a total of 34 being called.
Will this game prove to be another ‘hard-hitter’ or will one side step up and take a bit of accountability close to the goal?
What Happened Last Round: Josep Gombau’s return to the A-League got a hell of a lot worse than it already was after his sides pathetic effort in their 4-0 loss to the Jets up in the Hunter region. They managed a total of 3 shots on target for the entire game as well as completing only 75% of their passes. With the exception of their controversial and rare 2-0 win over the Mariners a couple of rounds ago, the Wanderers have lost their past 4 games by a combined aggregate score of 13 goals to 0. As a result of all of this, their are now rumours spreading that Gombau may be fired and that a lot of Western Sydney players will be looking for new homes come January. Such is the dire straight that they are in at the moment, their was also a recent report published that the Wanderers were looking to sign rivals Sydney FC’s back-line to help them with their defensive woes. While after their loss to the Jets, assistant coach and former caretaker coach Hayden Foxe quit the club, in yet another blow to the embattled Wanderers. Tough times indeed!!! As for City, they could feel very hard done by in their 1-0 loss to the Victory. The game was decided in the 96th minute after Socceroo Mark Milligan converted a penalty after Melbourne conceded a very late foul in the box. Despite the probably undeserving loss, City still currently sit in 3rd place. Of Melbourne’s 15 shots, only 3 of them were on target. Had they aimed a little better, we could be looking at a completely different result. Who knows? However it is slightly concerning for Warren Joyce’s side given that this was their 5th loss this season already after being branded championship contenders at the start of it.
What Should Happen: Western Sydney’s season from hell continuing. They’ve been absolutely dreadful this campaign, there’s no other way to put it. They’ve won a total 2 games from 11 attempts. While some of their most recent outings have seen them lose by scores of 5-0 and 4-0. They’ve also been absolutely diabolical in front of goal this season. Coming up against the 3rd placed Melbourne City, it’s not going to get any better. City should put on a clinic and in the process beat the Red & Black by around 2-3 goals. For the Wanderers, this could get really embarrassing, really quickly.
Betting tip: Pick City to claim a comfortable victory at $2.71 (Pinnacle)
Also pick them to score first at $1.95 (Bet365)
Best Bet of the Round
Pick Bruce Kamau to score against the WSW at $4.33 (Bet365)
                 Pick Adrian Mierzejewski to score against Perth at $1.95 also (Bet365)