Two wins and two losses in the opening round of the Hyundai A-League to make for a break even weekend. We’re happy with that as it can always be tricky leading into a new season but we’ll be looking to go one better this weekend as we present our A-League Preview & Betting Tips for Round 2 below.
A-League Round 2 Betting Tips
Brisbane Roar vs Adelaide United (Friday 7.50pm AEST)
Brisbane Roar travelled to Melbourne in week one and went down to City 2-0 in what was a more competitive game than the score line suggests. Both the possession stat and the shots were relatively even in their clash but the Roar lacked finishing power whereas Melbourne City forward Bruce Kamau was able to find eh back of the net twice.
Brisbane will be hoping their prized recruit, Massimo Maccarone of Serie-A fame can find some form going forward and give the Roar a formidable target man in the absence of Jamie Maclaren. They come up against Adelaide this weekend, who we tipped to win their round one clash over in New Zealand but ultimately came away with a respectable 1-1 draw.
Adelaide have a tough draw to open the season, having to travel to New Zealand followed by a trip to Brisbane. They are arguably the form side in the A-League at the moment if the pre-season is anything to go by and should be happy to escape Brisbane with another draw before they head back to Adelaide for a two game home stand. Should be a defensive game from both sides.
TIP: Draw - $3.55 at Sportsbet
Western Sydney Wanderers vs Central Coast Mariners (Saturday 5.35pm AEST)
The Wanderers were great on the weekend, securing a 2-1 win over Perth Glory in Sydney. They’ll get another home game this weekend as they host the Central Coast Mariners, who went down 5-1 at the hands of Newcastle. Newcastle striker Roy Donovan slotted a hat trick in the win but Central Coast weren’t without their fair share of the ball and the attacking play, maintaining 64% and blasting 20 shots in the loss.
Western Sydney claimed their victory in different fashion, maintaining most of the possession and the attack throughout the game and playing a fairly defensive style much like the one that allowed them to concede just 35 goals all last season.
Should be a closer game than the bookies have it, opening the Wanderers at $1.36 is a bit of an oversight given the Mariners were actually quite impressive in their loss, if that’s possible when the score line reads 5-1. We think the Wanderers still win here given the home field advantage but a much closer score line than CCM’s effort last weekend.
TIP: Western Sydney to win and UNDER 3.5 goals - $2.50 at Ladbrokes
Melbourne Victory vs Melbourne City (Saturday 7.50pm AEST)
The game of the round sees the two Melbourne teams go toe to toe at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night. The Victory had the tough task of hosting Sydney FC in week one and ultimately down 1-0 to last years’ champions. Both teams were impressive in their opening games but achieved different results as City claimed the 2-0 win over the Roar.
While they couldn’t register a shot on target against Sydney, Melbourne Victory’s midfield and forward line should be bolstered this weekend by the return of James Troisi, Mark Milligan and Kosta Barbarouses from international duty to join the likes of Bersat Berisha, Leigh Broxham and Carl Veleri.
The additions should push the likes of Mitch Austin, Jai Ingham and Leroy George back to the bench and strengthen the Victory midfield exponentially. Melbourne City will also get Tim Cahill back from international duty but will likely play a limited role after playing all 120 minutes of the Aussies clash against Syria on Tuesday night. Melbourne will have the ‘home crowd’ at Etihad and given their strong performance against a ridiculous Sydny FC team on the weekend we like them to win here.
TIP: Melbourne City to win - $2.25 at CrownBet
Sydney FC at Wellington Phoenix (Sunday 7pm AEST)
The Sydney FC train seemed to roll on without a hitch on the weekend, as they downed who many believe to be their only competition this year in the Melbourne Victory. Given the Victory were without some of their key players, we expect the matchups later in the year to be more competitive, however, we have no problem stating that Sydney should roll through the rest of the competition fairly easily.
They come up against the Wellington Phoenix this weekend in Sydney where they were undefeated all season last year and only let through a ridiculous four goals in 13 games. We know it’s a new year but they have relatively the exact same team and should be nearly impossible to beat at home once again.
TIP: Sydney to win to nil - $2.30 at Ladbrokes
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