AFL Round 19 begins at Marvel Stadium on Friday night with an important fixture that pits Essendon against Adelaide. The Bombers are in desperate need of a win to steady the ship but will have their hands full against a Crows outfit that is in solid form. We bring you our full preview, best bet, and Same Game Multi below!
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2024 AFL Round 19 Preview & Betting Tips
Essendon vs Adelaide
Friday 7:40pm AEST, July 19th, Marvel Stadium
Are we seeing yet another collapse from Essendon in the second half of a season? Fans would be anxious that might just be the case. After losing just twice in the first 11 rounds of the season, the Bombers head into Friday night’s match having lost four of their past six outings.
The Demons delt the Bombers their most recent defeat to the tune of 17 points (67-84). The Dons led at quarter time in tough conditions at the MCG, but fell away after the first break and were never able to recover or truly threaten for the four points.
Deciding the right mix of talls for their ruck/forward line has been an ongoing issue for the Dons. Interestingly, they’ve opted to drop Peter Wright this week and have gone with the dual-ruck approach with Todd Goldstein coming in to support Sam Draper.
After missing the 2023 finals in controversial fashion, Adelaide have arguably been the most disappointing side this season. They currently occupy 14th spot on the ladder and are 3.5 wins outside the eight with only six games remaining, so it’s fair to say they won’t be featuring in September.
However, the Crows have found some of their better form in recent weeks and head into Round 19 having won two of their past three matches. In treacherous conditions at Adelaide Oval last weekend, the Crows dismantled the lowly Saints by 32 points (71-39).
Former #2 pick Riley Thilthorpe made a successful return from injury in their recent win. The key forward started as the sub despite conditions not suiting someone of his huge stature, yet he made a fantastic impact when injected in the fourth quarter to finish the game with a couple of goals.
Unsurprisingly, the Crows were reluctant to make too many changes to their winning formula this week. Their sole change will see veteran Taylor Walker be managed, while classy halfback Mitch Hinge returns after a short injury layoff.
Match Prediction: It’s been all one-way traffic in this matchup in favour of the Bombers in recent years – they’ve won each of their last six meetings against the Crows. In saying that, their last three clashes have all been close games with the Bombers winning them by a combined 25 points. The Bombers will deservingly start as favourites again on Friday night and given their superior season to date coupled with home ground advantage, I’m happy to back them in to defeat the Crows in another close battle.
Essendon By 1-24
$3.10 (1 Unit)
Same Game Multi
We’ve collaborated with exciting new bookmaker, QuestBet, to bring you a great value Same Game Multi for the opening game of each AFL & NRL round. Simply click this link or the image below to jump on our Bombers vs Crows SGM.
Essendon to Win – At home and with their spot in the top eight hanging by a thread, you can expect a big effort from the Bombers here.
Kyle Langford 2+ Goals – He’s kicked 2+ in three of his last four games and should get plenty of chances against a bottom five side here.
Riley Thilthorpe 2+ Goals – Started as the sub in his return game last weekend and was seriously impressive. Kicked a couple of goals in his only quarter of action and should be starting this weekend.
SGM Odds: $4.33 at QuestBet
