The Hyundai A-League returns for its 13th season this Friday night with Melbourne City hosting the Brisbane Roar in the season opener from 7.50pm. You can take a look at our season preview and tips before play gets underway or check out our preview for the Round 1 action below.
A-League Round 1 Betting Tips
Melbourne City vs Brisbane Roar (Friday 7.50pm AEST)
Great game to open proceedings sees the Brisbane Roar travel South to take on Melbourne City on Friday night. Melbourne City will be without star striker Bruno Fornaroli for the near future after the Uruguayan suffered an ankle injury in a FFA Cup clash back in August. This should open up the door for Socceroo Tim Cahill, moving forward, although Cahill will miss Friday’s game due to national commitments.
City also secured the services of Aston Villa and Scotland national striker Ross McCormack on loan which should greatly improve their attack. Brisbane Roar also made their fare share of off season moves to improve their attacking line-up, but lost star striker Jamie Maclaren to Bundesliga 2 side Darmstadt 98. Their prized recruit, Massimo Maccarone has scored over 100 goals in Serie-A but at 38 years old, experts wonder how much potential he can actually have.
Games are always tough to call in week one so we are going with the home side here. Another pre season in the legs of the nine Roar players over 30 might see them decline a bit this season.
TIP: Melbourne City to win - $2.08 at CrownBet
Melbourne Victory vs Sydney FC (Saturday 7.50pm AEST)
The 2017 Grand Final rematch and the biggest rivalry in the A-League headlines Saturday night’s action as the Melbourne Victory host Sydney FC. Reigning champions Sydney will go into this season with a very similar looking line-up, which is justified considering they had one of the most dominant seasons in A-League history last year. The loss of Rhyan Grant for the majority of the season through an ACL injury could be a slight issue but manager Graham Arnold did well to fill the void, bringing in former Socceroo Luke Wilkshire.
Melbourne boss Kevin Muscat has brought the gang back together, signing Mark Milligan and Kosta Barbarouses in the off-season to form what should be a dangerous midfield/attack for the Victory. Barbarouses should slot straight into the right wing void left by the departing Marco Rojas, while James Troisi and Bersat Berisha make up a potent attacking pair in the middle of the ground.
Sydney defeated Melbourne four times last year including the Grand Final in a penalty shootout so the Victory will be praying they can get their year off to a good start with some revenge here. Another really tough game to call in Round 1 so we like the home side again here, especially as underdogs.
TIP: Melbourne Victory (draw no bet) - $2.05 at Ladbrokes
Wellington Phoenix vs Adelaide United (Sunday 3pm AEST)
All signs point to another long year for the Wellington Phoenix. The 2016-17 season was a disappointing one for them and their status as an A-League club continues to be questioned with many suitors in Australia vying for their license. They finished 7th on the ladder last year but looked like one of the worst teams in the comp in the second half of the season and have lost two of their most relied upon attacking players this year in Kosta Barbarouses and Roly Bonevacia.
They come up against a red hot Adelaide United in Round 1, who have been the best A-League team throughout the pre-season, going undefeated through eight games. Adleaide have made plenty of helpful inclusions throughout the offseason and look set to improve on their disappointing 9th place finish last season.
This year is already feeling like a write off for the Phoenix and a home loss to a much improved Adelaide side in Round 1 looks to be on the cards.
TIP: Adelaide to win - $2.90 at CrownBet
Western Sydney Wanderers vs Perth Glory (Sunday 6pm AEST)
The Wanderers will get their season underway by hosting the Perth glory on Sunday evening. Both team’s season’s came to disappointing ends last year after going out in the early rounds of the finals series. Western Sydney have made some big signings in the off-season, securing the services of La Liga pair Oriol Riera and Alvaro Cejudo. Both will be welcome inclusions to the Wanderers forward line and should address a weakness in scoring goals that was displayed last year.
Perth Glory made their own waves in the winter, signing Spanish midfielder Xavi Torres. The La Liga veteran joins his former teammate Diego Castro in purple, giving Perth a deadly passing unit in the midfield. However, they did lose a massive chunk of their core from the 2016-17 season in Rostyn Griffiths, Nebojsa Marinkovic, Rhys Williams, Josh Risdon and Dino Djulbic all departing.
The Wanderers have opened as $2 favourites here and we tend to side with the bookies on this one. WSW lost just 3 games at home throughout last years campaign so we expect them to get the job done here.
TIP: Western Sydney to win - $2 at Sportsbet
Always Gamble Responsibly.
