The following are previews with betting tips for Round 17 of the 2019/20 A-League season.
Compare A-League bookmaker odds
View the A-League form guide
View bookmaker football promotions (excludes NSW & WA)
Friday, January 31
 |
Sydney FC v Brisbane Roar7:30 PM AEDT, Netstrata Jubilee Stadium |
 |
Balling Baumjohann
Last RD-
Baumjohann got the job done via a maiden Sydney goal + an assist, in his sides 3-0 comprehensive thrashing of the Victory in the Big Blue Derby last round. The ex-Wanderer was also shown a straight red at the end of the game for violent conduct. But by then, his master class had already been concluded. Broxham was also sent of for the Melbournian based side as a result of his part played in all the trouble. Baumjohann got his goal in the 85th minute, Le Fondre scored his league-leading 14th goal of the season in the 27th minute and Barbarouses haunted his former side yet again with a strike of his own in the 53rd minute. The Sky Blues dominated this hotly contested affair from start-to-finish with 51% possession and by shooting 5/10 shots on target. They also completed a strong 84% of their passes, which was good for 390/465. As the ladder currently stands, Sydney have won an impressive 12/14 match’s this season. In addition they are also ahead of 2nd placed City by a whole double-digit 10 points (37 vs 27).
The Roar currently sit just outside the Top Six, in 7th, as they are just one point of Western United and only five of the 4th placed Nix. This comes about as they claimed their 5th win of the new campaign with a tightly contested 1-0 victory over the luckless Mariners away from home. In the process their GD is now down to only -3. Of all the sides with a negative GD, that’s the best in the A-League at present. They won it late through Corey Brown in the 86th minute. His goal came after an assist from O’Shea and it was a left-footed shot. Brisbane owned 54% of the ball. They also shot the ball 4/11 on target and very impressively defensive wise, they kept the Central Coast to a paltry 2/18 on target. The Roar won 84% of their passes, which was good for 463/552. And they conceded just nine fouls + 1 yellow. Brisbane continued their recent fiery hot-streak with their victory here.
Past History-
Sydney have won six of their past 10 contested clashes against the Roar. Sydney won 5-1 the last time these two teams met. Yet before that, it was 2-0 in favor of Robbie Fowler’s men. These two sides never fail to put on an entertaining affair when they lock horns. The 5-1 match saw Le Fondre bag three (7th, 42nd and 89th minutes), Ninkovic score one (25th minute) and Buhagiar get on the board as well (86th minute). The Roar’s sole goal came via an O’Donovan one in the 95th minute. That day the Sky Blues shot 8/12 on target and the Roar went 6/15. That was despite the Sky Blues having only 42% possession of the ball and Brisbane 58% of it. The 2-0 result knocked Sydney out in the first round of the latest edition of the FFA Cup. Mauk scored in the 41st minute and O’Shsea six minutes later to claim the shock, upset win.
Betting tip: Pick Sydney to win at $1.53 (SportsBet)
Also pick them to score first at $1.44 (Bet365)
Saturday, February 1
 |
Newcastle Jets v Western United5:00 PM AEDT, McDonald Jones Stadium |
 |
Nothing Newcastle
Last RD-
The heading is harsh, yes, but it’s also true. The Jets slumped to their 9th defeat from 14 games this season as they suffered a 2-1 loss to Wellington last round. Their GD is now at -18, the worst in the A-League by six goals. And they have just nine points to their name so far. It’s looking pretty bad for the Hunter Valley based side presently. They are dead last on the table and their sole goal came via Arroyo late on in the game (66th minute). Yet they conceded just three minutes later to a Davilia goal (69th minute). Despite owning 55% of the ball throughout the match, they shot just 7/28 on target. And they hit an ugly 10 shots of the target during the game as well. They did however complete 82% of their passes. That was good for 393/478. This was their seventh loss from their past eight games. A change of coaches for them clearly hasn’t done all that much to aid them.
Berisha played in his 200th A-League game this past round and boy oh boy, didn’t he impress! He scored goals in the 12th and 43rd minutes of the game in Western United’s entertaining 4-3 loss to Adelaide. United’s other strike came via Diamanti in the 54th minute. Western conceded goals in the 9th, 15th, 18th and 79th minutes of the game in the high-scoring defeat. It was Konstandopoulos who ended up scoring the winner 11 minutes from time for Adelaide. The result leaves the Green & Black in 6th and only a point inside the six. It represented their 7th loss of the season from 15 games. United owned 54% of the ball, yet despite that, they managed to shoot on target only four shots, from 10 in total. They did however, complete a pretty strong 84% of their passes. That was good for 399/475.
Past History-
The only time these two teams faced of was on the 16th of November, 2019 at GMHBA Stadium. That day the Jets came away with a closely fought 1-0 win. And in the re-do of that affair, more and new history will be completed between these two battler sides. The games sole goal was via Thuragte in the 36th minute of the game. And Newy won it, despite only having 36% possession of the ball throughout the match. Western Unted had 64% and went a POOR, POOR, POOR, 3/19 on target. The Jets went 5/15. In all fairness to United however, they did have a shot hit the woodwork, which had it gone in, could have completely changed the outcome of the game. Western completed 82% of their passes and Newcastle 75% of theirs. They were good for 476/579 and 244/325 respectively. Western won 64 duels and 26 aerials. Newcastle, 40 and 15. We’re primed for another BIG game right here. Something tells me it’s not to be missed.
Betting tip: Pick Newcastle to come away with the upset win at $2.30 (SportsBet)
Also pick Newcastle to score first at $1.84 (BetEasy)
 |
Adelaide United v Melbourne City7:30 PM AEDT, Coopers Stadium |
 |
No party for party-man Berisha
Last RD-
Celebrating his 200th A-League appearance last round, it was supposed to be a party for Big Bes, but no one told the boys down at Adelaide United as they spoiled the fun in their highly-entertaining and high-scoring 4-3 victory. Berisha did get a double, but two to Mileusnic (9th and 15th minutes), + one to McGree three minutes later and one more to Konstandopoulos (79th minute), meant that Adelaide took away all three points with them. This hectic affair has left them in 5th place on the ladder. It was their 7th win of the season from 14 games and it has left them on 21 points. They are now just two wins of 2nd placed City. They are gunning high now, that’s for sure. They had only 46% possession and shot just 6/27 on target. They did however complete 85% of their passes. Something that was good for 357/420. Fair credit to them for getting the W, despite some of their less then desirable stats.
City sit in 2nd currently after their surprise 0-0 draw with the Glory last round. They are two points ahead of 3rd placed Perth, but a BIG 10 behind 1st placed Sydney. They are stuck in the middle, but they are looking strong so far this season. It was supposed to be a high scoring game (hence the surprise), but both sides shot just three shots on target each the entire game, which was no doubt a set of disappointment to both sides. City had their three on target from 17 attempted shots in total. YIKES! OUCH! PRETTY BAD! That was despite them having 58% possession of the ball throughout the match. In some positives however, they completed 82% of their passes. That was good for 429/524. They also won 55 duels to 40 and 23 aerial duels to 21. And finally, they leaked just 10 fouls, with only one yellow to their name.
Past History-
City have won 9 of their past 18 clashes against the Reds. These two sides have an interesting and entertaining history against one another, that will never die down. When these two sides last met, Adelaide won the FFA Cup in style, as they routed City 4-0. City never stood a chance against such a crazed, dominant Adelaide side as all of Toure (25th min), Halloran (49th min), Mileusnic (60th min) and McGree (75th min), all got on the score-sheet. The game before that City won 2-1 courtesy of two goals within a five minute time-span for Socceroo Jamie Maclaren (24-28 minutes). McGree scored in the 67th minute for the Reds. City shot 4/11 on target with a shot of the woodwork. The Reds went 5/12. City owned 54% of the ball and Adelaide 46%.
Betting tip: Pick City to be victorious at $2.87 (Bet365)
Also pick Maclaren to score any time throughout the match at $1.98 (BetEasy)
 |
Perth Glory v Melbourne Victory9:45 PM AEDT, HBF Park |
 |
No show Fornaroli
Last RD-
He was playing at his old stomping ground in the form of AAMI Park, but that seemingly didn’t matter to one of the Glory’s star men as they drew 0-0 in Melbourne last round. He had only two shots the entire game and one of them was off target. He had just one shot assist and he completed just 61% of his passes. He missed his only tackle. Need I go on? However, it wasn’t just him, the whole team was disappointing. The Glory had just 42% of the ball and shot only 3/6 on target. Although they did have a shot hit the woodwork. They also completed just 73% of their passes. That was good for 279/380. They also made only three tackles. Not many positives can be taken from this one for the Glory. It leaves them in 3rd position with what was their A-League high 4th draw of the campaign. They are currently only two points of 2nd placed City. But they’re a massive 12 of 1st placed Sydney.
Broxham seeing red in the 94th minute summed up the Victory’s horrible Big Blue performance perfectly. And even though Sydney did too, it didn’t matter as much for them, as they ended up being 3-0 victors. The Sky Blues opened the scoring in the 27th minute, Barbarouses came back to haunt Melbourne again in the 53rd minute and the opposition put the icing on the cake in the 85th minute. This disastrous defeat has left them in 8th on the ladder, on just 15 points. It was also their 8th loss of the season, better then only the lowly placed Mariners and Jets.The Victory had 49% possession of the ball throughout the game and shot just 8/19 on target. They did however complete 83% of their passes, which was good for 364/439. And they gave up a BIG, BIG, BIG 18 fouls + two yellows throughout the duration of the game.
Past History-
The Victory have won six of their past nine games against Perth. Last time out they won 1-0 at AAMI Park, courtesy of a 33rd minute Robbie Kruse goal. Despite having only 36% possession, Melbourne claimed all three points that day. They did however shoot only 3/11 on target. On the contrary, the Glory had a big 64% of the ball, but managed to put the ball on target only 4 out of 22 times. Melbourne completed 75% of their passes, which was good for 245/325. And the Glory 86% of theirs, which was good for 511/596. Before that game, goals to Toivonen and Honda handed them an easy 2-0 win against Perth. Not aiding the Glory’s cause one little bit was the fact that they shot a horrible 6/23 on target that game. It helped allow the Victory to win, that despite the fact they owned just 38% of the ball.
Betting tip: Pick Perth to be victorious at $1.74 (UniBet)
Also pick both teams to score at $1.66 (Bet365)
Sunday, February 2
 |
Central Coast Mariners v Western Sydney Wanderers4:00 PM AEDT, Central Coast Stadium |
 |
2/18, What will cost you in a game of Football?
Last RD-
The Mariners shot 2/18 on target against Brisbane last round, pretty un-surprisingly they lost that game. The end score was 1-0 after Brown scored a late 86th minute winner for the opposition. The Central Coast had 46% possession of the ball and they shot six of their shots of target. More surprisingly however, they completed a solid 85% of their passes. That was good for 383/451. They also gave up 11 fouls and generally speaking, there’s not a whole lot of positives that they can take from this one. With the exception of the fact that they pushed the Roar most of the way despite their relatively crappy shooting. The Mariners are in 10th on the ladder with a bad GD of -12. They have just 13 points (less then a point per game). And it was their 9th loss of the season from 14 games played so far.
Having the bye in Round 16, Western Sydney’s previous last efforts were in Round 15. There at Bankwest Stadium. on a Sunday night, they suffered a 1-0 loss to Perth. Fornaroli opened the scoring in the 6th minute. But that was the only goal scored for the entire game. With a BIG 62% of the ball, they shot just 2/22 on target! They also kept Perth to only 2/9 on target! Western Sydney also completed 83% of their passes. Those were good for 461/558. They only won five takeons to the Glory’s 24. And they were also forced into making 16 tackles. The Red & Black are currently 9th on the ladder. This was their 8th loss of the season from 14 match’s. Times are pretty dire out West for the Wanderers.
Past History-
The Wanderers have been fairly dominant against the Central Coast as of late. They have won 9 of their past 13 contested games against them. The last one ended 2-1 as former Mariner turned Wanderer Mitch Duke, bagged a double (41st and 82nd minutes) to get his side a close victory. Duric had previously opened the scoring for the Central Coast in the 36th minute of the match. The Red & Black shot 7/12 on target with 43% possession. The Mariners went 4/10 on target with 57% of the ball. Before that it was a shock, upset, 3-1 win to the Mariners. 2X to Matt Simon and one to Rowles overruled Bridge’s solitary goal. Rowles also saw red in the 71st minute of the game. Hopefully there’s more of that closeness and utter craziness in this one.
Betting tip: Pick Western Sydney to win at $2.50 (SportsBet)
Pick Mitch Duke to score at any time during the game at $2.90 (BetEasy)
Best Bet of the Round
Pick Perth to be victorious at $1.74 (UniBet)
Also pick both teams to score at $1.66 (Bet365)