The following are previews with betting tips for selected fixtures in Round 8 of the 2024/25 A-Leagues Mens season.
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Western Sydney Wanderers vs Brisbane RoarSaturday December 14, 7:35pm |
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As Western Sydney prepare to take on Brisbane at CommBank Stadium, they do so having won just two of their last 11 games there. This poor run of form has come about via the ‘Red & Black’s’ shockingly inconsistent results as of late. Last time out they battered City in Melbourne 2-0, whilst before that they lost the away Derby to Sydney 4-2. The week prior witnessed a home thrashing of Newcastle, 4-1, before going down to Adelaide 4-3 at home in what was an extremely topsy turvy affair. It’s fair to say that Alen Stajcic will have to help his troops overcome some mental demons if they want to collect a much needed win to help boost them back into finals contention.
Meanwhile for Brisbane they are currently rooted to the bottom of the ladder with just one-point from six games played so far this season. Their defence is ranked for 2nd worst in the league at 18 goals conceded and at times this campaign their defence has collapsed under the simplest of plays from their opposing sides. They’ve also conceded four goals a piece over their last two games, the latest of which was a 4-1 shellacking at the hands of Melbourne City at Suncorp Stadium, as the hosts leaked goals in the 1st, 18th, 70th and 82nd minutes of the game. With growing calls for Ruben Zadkovich to be sacked this may legitimately be the former Socceroos last chance to save his job.
It’s anyones best guess as to how this game will end up and if the Wanderers lose then it may well be Alen Stajcic who finds himself on the proverbial hot-seat of A-League Mens coaches. However in what will probably end up being a free for all sort of a matchup, I’d back the hosts to have a bit more class at the end of it all as opposed to the seriously struggling Roar.
Betting tips: Pick a Western Sydney victory at $1.86 (BetFair)
Also back them to open the scoring at $1.53 (bet365)
You can also back both teams to score one + goal a piece at $1.49 (BetFair)
And for Marcus Antonsson to score anytime throughout the game at $2.90 (Unibet)
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Perth Glory vs Newcastle JetsSaturday December 14, 9:45pm |
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The Glory so far this season have etched up just two competition points from seven matches played and have leaked a league worst 20 goals. They also haven’t won a game since the 20th of August this year which was a Club Friendly and the last time they won a proper affair was on the 3rd of the same month. That’s an eight-match winless run, the last of which was a 2-0 defeat to the Victory at AAMI Park over the weekend. From the get-go they were put in a ruthless stranglehold by the hosts as they conceded the opener inside just eight-minutes, had just 31% possession of the ball, shot just two attempts at goal the entire game and leaked 25 shots themselves. Against the Jets they may do a little better, however unless Newcastle are awful in Western Australia then it’s hard to envision Perth causing too much of a ruckus on their home turf.
Newcastle have lost their last two away games on the trot, which also coincidentally have been their last two matches played. Most recently it was 2-0 versus Auckland and 4-1 versus Western Sydney. Thankfully for them however they are playing Perth, a team who they haven’t lost to since the 27th of March, 2021. Home or away, Newcastle and Perth’s last five consecutive games have also been 2-2 draws. The latest of those in Glory territory earlier this year saw the Jets dominate everywhere but the scoreboard with 61% ownage of the ball and 10/23 shots on target. Undoubtedly they’ll be hoping for another inspiring performance right here.
There will either be a torrential down pour of goals in this spicy affair or none at all, there will be no in-between. Both teams are more then capable of taking their chances on their day and one would expect that the Glory won’t be terrible forever, however this won’t be their day and you can back the Jets to take the chocolates back home to the Hunter Valley.
Betting tips: Look for a well-deserved Newcastle dub at $2.75 (BetR)
You can also look for Eli Adams to potentially add to his goal-scoring tally anytime at $5.80 (Unibet)
And back the visitors to score first at $2.05 (bet365)
Alongside with one + goal being scored in H1 and H2 at $1.47 (bet365)