Round 9 of the 2021 AFL season continues on Sunday with the usual three game slate. Here, we’re having a look at the second game of the day which sees Melbourne take on Carlton at the MCG. Catch our match prediction and player props for this huge clash right here!
Remember, you can check out our preview and tips for every game in Round 9 and beyond of the AFL season, just be sure to head to our AFL Betting Tips page for regular updates.
2021 AFL Round 9 Melbourne Demons vs Carlton Blues Tips
Marvel Stadium, Sunday 16th May 3:20pm (AEST)
This big Sunday afternoon clash will see the undefeated Demons host the slowly improving Blues in front of a big crowd at the home of footy. As expected, the Demons will start as the short-priced favourites as they look to extend their perfect record to 9-0.
Match Prediction
Melbourne have had a dream start to the season by any measure as they enter Round 9 with a perfect 8-0 record. The Swans really took it up to them last weekend and pushed them all the way, but in the end the cream rose to the top and the Demons won by nine points. Impressively, that was the first time this season that an opposing team has come within three goals of beating them.
Part of the reason why the Demons have had such a fantastic start to the season is the lack of injuries to key players in their squad, which certainly hasn’t been the case in recent years. The only long-term injury at the moment belongs to Adam Tomlinson, while in the short-term it’s Jack Viney who will be missing from their best 22.
Carlton have had a little bit of a disappointing start to their 2021 campaign with just three wins against five losses coming into this weekend. In Round 8 they looked a good thing to get the chocolates over the talented Bulldogs when they led by 14 points at three-quarter time, but once again it was the better team that managed to come out on top in the end.
Injuries play a huge part in a team’s success and perhaps the extensive injury list the Blues currently have is partially to blame for their poor start to the season. We won’t be seeing any of Charlie Curnow, Caleb Marchbank, Oscar McDonald, or Mitch McGovern anytime soon, all of which are arguably in their best 22. In some good news, Jack Martin is now only 1-2 weeks away from returning from a knee injury.
These teams last met in June of last year in what was an interesting match. On that occasion the Demons got out to a 32-0 lead at quarter time, but the Blues hit their straps after the break an eventually went down by a single point. Similarly, the previous meeting between these clubs in 2019 saw the Demons get the jump before the Blues clawed their way back, losing by under a goal once again.
Three of the past four meetings between these clubs have seen the Demons win by under 10 points and while they have clearly improved this season, we’re expecting another tight match on Sunday. In saying that, this is certainly one of the tougher matches to predict this round, so we’ll stick to a very small 0.5-unit bet here.
Carlton Blues +20.5 (0.5 Units)
$1.90
Melbourne Prop
Kysaiah Pickett’s rapid improvement from year one to year two of his career is one of many reasons why the Demons are off to such a fantastic start this season. Pickett has been a constant threat when he’s playing as a small forward, kicking multiple goals in four of his eight games to date. Interestingly, all four times he’s kicked multiple goals have come against teams outside the top eight, which is exactly the case against Sunday when they take on the Blues.
K. Pickett 2+ Goals
$2.37
Carlton Prop
We’re going back to the well this weekend and are backing in Eddie Betts to jag a couple of goals. Eddie had a really slow start to the season with two goals from his first four games, but has exploded over the past fortnight with bags of three goals against the Bombers and five goals against the Bulldogs. He represents good value to continue his hot form this weekend in what should be a high-scoring affair.
