The following are previews with betting tips for Round 14 of the 2018/19 A-League season.
Compare A-League bookmaker odds
View the A-League form guide
View bookmaker football promotions (excludes NSW)
Friday, January 18
 |
Western Sydney Wanderers v Adelaide United7:50 PM AEDT, ANZ Stadium |
 |
Three different goal-scorers, but still no result
They led 2-0, but in the end they couldn’t deliver what would have been the most unexpected of results as they fell to Perth 4-3 in what was both a frantic and hectic affair. Yeboah bagged his first goal for the Wanderers as their recent new signing, while both Bonevacia and Majok also got on the score-sheet. And the Red & Black can feel hard done by as well given that they conceded an 86th minute penalty that led to the Glory scoring the winner. However it was a pretty soft one at that. Despite trying their best the result leaves Western Sydney 10 points adrift of a finals spot. And given that it’s Adelaide they are trying to catch and the match is in Homebush, this represents a must win game for them.
Goodwin not enough as Adelaide fall to Sydney in costly circumstances
A free-kick was given that Siem de Jong converted to give Sydney an early lead in their match against Adelaide. However it was a poor choice to award it and had it not been given, the game probably would’ve ended in a 1-1 draw as opposed to the 2-1 defeat Adelaide suffered. Their only goal of the match came via a 50th minute Goodwin penalty after a clumsy foul by opposition defender Aaron Calver. That was Goodwin’s 5th goal of the A-League season. Adelaide however didn’t have only the refs to blame though as they held 60% of the ball, yet of their 11 shots, managed to get only two on target. And they also conceded five less overall fouls then Sydney (15 vs 20) and they completed 80% of their passes (405/506). A win here for United would put them 4+ wins ahead of the Wanderers, so they have all the motivation in the world to try and take all three points.
Betting tip: Pick Western Sydney to be victorious at $2.80 (BetEasy)
Also pick them to score first at $2.00 (Neds)
Saturday, January 19
 |
Sydney FC v Newcastle Jets5:35 PM AEDT, Jubilee Stadium |
 |
FFA FC at it again
Every theme to a Sky Blue victory seems to be that the FFA supposedly helped them in one way or another. And yet again after their victory on Sunday evening that seemed to be the case as many fans questioned the legitimacy of Siem de Jong’s free-kick, which he converted, which in turn gave them an early 1-0 lead. Sydney ended up winning 2-1 with Jacob Tratt scoring their other strike, which means that de Jong’s free-kick decision, whether right or wrong had massive implications on the outcome of the game. However it was a good rebound victory for Steve Corica’s men after their 3-1 loss to Perth the round before and it keeps them in equal 2nd place along with the Victory. Sydney managed to land five of their 12 shots on target and played well in front of their home-crowd. And now coming up against the Jets, who they’ve won nine of their past 12 matches against, they should again be very strong in their pursuit of 1st place.
Newcastle, the A-League’s most luckless side
In last season’s Grand Final, the Jets conceded a goal that should not have stood against the Victory, that match ended 1-0. And now fast forward to Round 13 of this season the Victory were at it again as James Troisi scored an 84th minute winner for the opposition to hand the luckless Jets a 2-1 defeat in a game that maybe should have ended as a draw. The Jets goal came via Kaine Sheppard only minutes earlier (84th minute). However Ernie Merrick’s men only had themselves to blame for the loss as they killed themselves with some poor shooting, four of their 18 shots went on target. On a bright-side though, they were very well-disciplined as they gave away only six fouls, only one of which was a yellow. With O’Donovan on three goals this season and Petratos two, it’ll be up to them to fire the Jets to a crucial victory. And one at that which they need given they currently sit seven points of a finals spot.
Betting tip: Pick Sydney to be victorious at $1.91 (PalmerBet)
Also pick Adam Le Fondre to score at anytime at $4.70 (UniBet)
 |
Melbourne City v Perth Glory7:50 PM AEDT, AAMI Park |
 |
Third in a row for Joyce’s City
de Laet’s 52nd minute goal was all that separated Melbourne and Brisbane in their 1-0 victory, but it doesn’t matter as the result helped them to consolidate 4th spot and it was their third victory in a row. This was after their 2-1 win over the Jets and 2-0 victory over the Wanderers. City had plenty of opportunities to dominate the hapless Roar (17 shot opportunities in fact), however they couldn’t quite find Brisbane’s goals with only six of them finding the target. City also gave away only nine fouls, being very impressive in their discipline. And as the A-League ladder currently stands Melbourne are only a single three points of both the Sky Blues and the Victory. And of the field it was recently announced that O’Halloran was released on compassionate grounds. He played just a total of three games for City. While Baccus has signed a three and a half year deal with Melbourne after he performed very, very well in O’Halloran’s absence. He’s a good and underrated singing from Melbourne.
Top teams do what top teams do
Perth were the best team in the comp and facing one of the worst teams in the comp. Easy victory then right? Not really, Perth struggled against the Wanderers as they fell down 2-0. However four goals in the space of 12 minutes, 70th-82nd minute and three of which were to them saw them even the game at 3-all in a very frantic period of play. And then comes the 86th minute, Andy Keogh falls down in the box and Perth are awarded the spot-kick. This is to again go two wins clear of Melbourne and Sydney at the very top of the ladder. Juande steps up to the spot and converts it. Perth win 4-3. What a game for the Glory and what a moment for Tony Popovic claiming the crazy victory over the side then he led to an Asian Champions League title. There are things being said about whether or not it was actually a penalty, but regardless there was contact so therefore the decision was right.
Betting tip: Pick both teams to find the back of the net at $1.73 (TopBetta)
Also pick the second-half to be the highest scoring one at $2.15 (Neds)
Sunday, January 20
 |
Melbourne Victory v Wellington Phoenix5:00 PM AEDT, AAMI Park |
 |
James Troisi you absolute son of a gun
Come the 84th minute and the score is locked at 1-1 between the Victory and Newcastle. However that doesn’t mean anything at all to James Troisi who scores the late winner to move the Victory back up into 2nd place behind only the Glory. He proved once again why he is such a valuable asset to Melbourne in what was his 2nd goal of the campaign and for context his impact is felt in other ways as he also has four assists (equal top of the A-League). Melbourne’s other goal came via Terry Antonis in the 48th minute. The Victory managed to make most of their meaningful shots count as they landed only 3/11 on target. And when it came to dueling Newcastle were all over them. The Jets won 63 duels to their 39. While Newcastle also won 31 aerial duels to their 18. However Melbourne gave away only six fouls as they made smart choices in what they were going about doing. And they also completed 76% of their passes (345/454).
Don’t judge a book by it’s cover
The audacity of some people to criticize the Phoenix falling into an early 2-0 lead against the Mariners. This is the same Mariners who drew with City and from two games this season against Sydney, have scored the first goal twice. Wellington won this game and a win is a win. So it seems like a lot of people are basing the game by what was it’s early stages (representative of the cover) and not the entire game itself (the book). Because with that eventual 3-2 victory the Phoenix are now only four points of 2nd place. Not at all bad for a side that finished 9th last season. The Phoenix’s goals came via David Williams and a 8th and 9th of the season to Roy Krishna. However this result could’ve ended a hell of a lot differently if Kye Rowles hadn’t seen red for the CCM in the 46th minute of the game. For context all of Wellington’s goals came after the Mariners were a man down.
Betting tip: Pick both teams to find the back of the net at $1.62 (Neds)
Also pick Roy Krishna to score at any time during the game at $8.50 (UniBet)
 |
Central Coast Mariners v Brisbane Roar7:00 PM AEDT, Central Coast Stadium |
 |
CCM; Central Coast Morons
You have Mike Charlesworth owning the club and barely willing to spend a cent on players. There’s been no replacement or any talk of a replacement for the departed Ross McCormack, while an ageing Matty Simon is one of their more reliable options upfront, YIKES! Then against the Sky Blues they worked hard to craft an early 1-0 lead, however Cisse was red-carded and they ended up going down 5-2. Same thing here, they toiled hard vs the Phoenix and took a deserved two goal lead. Rowles was red-carded this time and they ended up going down 3-2. Your team are under-dogs to begin with, don’t make it harder and more complicated for yourselves by not buying some decent players and going a man down too many games. Matt Simon scored the opener for the Mariners in the 8th minute and then Hoole doubled the advantage in the 21st minute. The Mariners also shot a respectable 5/11 on target. However the Phoenix dominated possession with 64% of the ball.
Oh Brisbane, at least your not the Mariners
They went down 1-0 to City in what only continues/continued an absolutely miserable campaign for them so far. They currently have only one victory from 13 matches played so far. They had more possession then City, 52% vs 48%, and they also had 3/9 shots go on target, while they also completed 76% of their passes. But it wasn’t enough as they suffered their eighth defeat of the season. The Roar haven’t won since Round 5 when they beat City 2-0 at Suncorp. If Brisbane want to win here then it’ll be up to Adam Taggart to produce the goals as he has nine to his name this season. However even he is an inconsistent threat at best. Brisbane are still reeling from the loss of John Alosi. However a lot of their recent losses have been close so maybe, just maybe a win is around the corner. And in recent games they have pushed both Perth and Sydney all the way.
Betting tip: Pick the Mariners to be victorious at $3.30 (Sportsbet)
Also pick them to score the first goal of the game at $2.15 (Neds)
Best Bet of the Round
My favourite/best of the round is for both City and Perth to find the back of the net at $1.73 (TopBetta), simply put both of them love to score!
Melbourne City v Perth Glory and pick both teams to score is a very good choice. I think it will be 1:1 or 1:2.
Agreed. Both teams have lethal threats that can easily put the ball into the back of the net.