Round 10 of the AFL season closes out on Friday night and another one begins on Saturday! The final game of the round will see the Bombers taking on the Giants from 7.50pm on Friday night. As usual, we have a full preview and betting tips for the game courtesy of PuntingInDanger below.
We will be posting a new article EVERY DAY during footy mania, so make sure you regularly check our AFL Betting Tips page for tips on the games of the day.
AFL Round 10 Essendon vs GWS Betting Tips
Metricon Stadium, Friday 7.50pm (AEST)
The Bombers and Giants sit in 9th and 7th place on the ladder respectively and will be desperate for a win on Friday night to solidify a spot inside the top eight. The game will be played from Metricon Stadium, getting underway at 7.50pm (AEST).
Essendon
The Bombers just got over the line against a woeful Adelaide team in Round 8 and their form truly came to light in Round 9 when they were absolutely pumped by the Lions to the tune of 63 points last Wednesday night. They still have a game in hand on the rest of the competition, but that wont matter if they can’t jump into the top eight over the next month of play.
The Bombers are still without some of their key players in the likes of Orazio Fantasia, Dyson Heppell, Cale Hooker, and Jake Stringer but did get star midfielder Dylan Shiel back from injury last week. They will go into this game pretty undermanned against a Giants team that is stacked at the moment.
Bombers midfielder David Zaharakis averaged just 9.5 disposals per game through the first four games of the season and since the Bombers started having some injury problems in the midfield in Round 6, that number has jumped to 18.25 over the last four games. Will have a lot of responsibility through the midfield again and should get decent numbers.
Zaharakis 20+ Disposals
$2.20
Greater Western Sydney
The Giants are beginning to look like the side that made the Grand Final last year. After disappointing back to back losses to the Power and Lions, they have bounced back to record great wins over Richmond and Gold Coast in the last two weeks and will have a good chance to make it four in a row with games against the Bombers and Swans in the next week.
Unfortunately, the win over the Suns didn’t come without its setbacks, as star forward Toby Greene went down with a hamstring injury that will keep him out for at least a few weeks. Apart from Greene and a few other role players, the Giants injury list actually looks really solid at the moment, with all of their star players in the midfield healthy and firing.
Jeremy Cameron has booted at least 2 goals in six of his 9 games this season and in his last four against the Bombers, has kicked a total of 10 goals. More ball will be going through Cameron with Toby Greene out of the side on Friday night, back the star forward to kick 2+.
Prediction
One thing that we have noticed since the start of Round 9 is that teams are really starting to regain their chemistry on offence and we are seeing some high scores and large margins again. The average winning margin in Round 9 was a whopping 39.4 points, easily the highest of any round so far this season and in Round 10 through four games the average winning margin is 34.5.
Teams are starting to become more confident in their offensive schemes despite the shortened quarters, which is the reason we have elected to back a lot of favourites to cover the line this weekend. We think the bookmakers might still be accounting for both the rust in the offence and the shortened quarters, when really only one of them is now a factor.
The Giants are the much better side here and should win this one comfortably.
