A-League Betting Preview – Saturday/Sunday Matches
Central Coast Mariners v Newcastle Jets – Latest Odds.
Bluetongue Stadium
Saturday 14th January 2012.
Could Saturday’s clash between Central Coast Mariners and Newcastle Jets provide us with the holy grail of A-League betting, the home banker?
Well the statistics certainly suggest it might, with the men from Gosford unbeaten at home all season and in the midst of a fine run of ten wins from their last twelve games and the Jets having claimed just a single point on their travels this term
The form book can of course go out of the window during derby games, but it’s still hard to make a case for the visitors returning along the F3 anything but disappointed.
The Mariners weren’t perhaps at their best against Sydney last time out, yet they still returned from the SFS with three points as they began the post-Matt Simon era and currently sit eight points clear at the top of the table with a game in hand on second-placed Brisbane.
Rostyn Griffiths is expected to return to the starting eleven after missing the Sydney game, but Stuart Musialik is again set to miss out and may end his frustrating spell in Gosford by completing a switch to Saturday’s opponents before the end of the month.
Alex Wilkinson is another Mariner who has been linked with a move away from Bluetongue Stadium, but the club have denied that their skipper is bound for the Chinese Super League.
Kasey Wehrman, meanwhile, has been dominating the headlines this week as far as the Jets are concerned, with the veteran midfielder reportedly heading for the Ausgrid Stadium exit door.
The former Perth Glory man appears to have been a little too outspoken for coach Gary van Egmond’s liking and has almost certainly played his last game for the Hunter Valley club.
A swap deal taking him to the Jets in exchange for Musialik has been mooted, but neither club has confirmed it publicly.
Just one win in six has seen the Jets slip to second-last on the ladder and van Egmond may attempt to freshen things up this week by promoting the tricky Ali Abbas and the wily Michael Bridges from the bench.
In other team news, Ruben Zadkovich returns from suspension, but his place in the naughty corner is taken by the banned Tarek Elrich, while key defender Nikolai Topor-Stanley has been passed fit to play and James Virgili has also been included in the travelling party.
The Jets secured local bragging rights with a 1-0 victory at Ausgrid Stadium back in Week 3, but the Mariners gained revenge a little over a month ago by downing their rivals 2-0 in a game marred by crowd disturbances during and after the game.
Appeals have been made to both sets of fans for better behaviour this weekend and police numbers are expected to be increased significantly to ensure that this proves to be the case.
It probably won’t be as comfortable for the Mariners as the form book suggests it might be, but Graham Arnold’s men should still bag the points and give accumulator punters around the country that lovely warm fuzzy feeling.
Prediction: Central Coast Mariners 2-1 Newcastle Jets
Brisbane Roar v Sydney FC – Latest Odds.
Suncorp Stadium
Saturday 14th January 2012.
Like the Jets, Sydney FC are a side struggling for form right now and they won’t be relishing a trip to Suncorp to take on a Brisbane Roar outfit who look to have steadied after suffering their own dramatic slump.
Speculation is growing in the Harbour City that Vitezslav Lavicka could become the next A-League coach to be relieved of his duties following a run of four defeats in the last five games.
Those results have not seen the Sky Blues drop out of the top six, they remain in fifth place with games in hand on two of the sides above them, but it is the nature of the defeats that has set the alarm bells ringing.
Thirteen goals have been conceded, including four against both Wellington and Melbourne Heart and at times their defending has been nothing short of shambolic.
Lavicka seems to have little choice but to stick with his leaky rearguard, however, as he does not have any replacements of great quality to call upon and, in fairness, the backline did show a lot more resolve in last weekend’s 1-0 defeat at the hands of the Mariners.
Mark Bridge may well be included in the run-on eleven at Suncorp ahead of Bruno Cazarine whom he replaced at half-time against Central Coast, while Shannon Cole is also pressing for a promotion from the bench and Nick Carle should be fit to start despite still battling the lingering effects of a hamstring strain.
The hosts, meanwhile, are set to receive the best possible news on the injury front with key men Thomas Broich and Henrique both expected to be passed fit to play this weekend.
With the possible exception of Paul Ifill at Wellington, no single player is as influential for an A-League club as Broich is for Brisbane and the German has been sorely missed during the eight weeks he has spent nursing a heel injury.
Henrique will also add a cutting edge to a Roar side that has looked rather toothless since he has been unavailable due to a knee problem.
Coach Ange Postecoglou may opt not to start either of the big-name returnees, but if he does take that risk, Kofi Danning and Rocky Visconte are the men most likely to make way.
Leading scorer Besart Berisha, meanwhile, will undergo a late fitness test on a calf strain that has been troubling him all week.
Roar will of course be gunning for revenge after Sydney brought their record-breaking unbeaten run to an end in the rain at Kogarah back in Week 9 and even if Broich and Henrique are restricted to cameos off the bench, it’s hard to see them failing to do so.
Prediction: Brisbane Roar 2-0 Sydney FC
Melbourne Heart v Perth Glory – Latest Odds.
AAMI Park
Sunday 15th January 2012.
Three positive results during the festive period have prompted speculation over in the west that Perth Glory may have turned the corner,
And if they manage to secure what would be their second victory over Melbourne Heart at AAMI Park this season on Sunday, that speculation will start to sound a lot more credible.
Having secured a battling point at Newcastle, Ian Ferguson’s side then had much the better of a 3-3 home draw with Brisbane before securing their first ever victory in Wellington last time out, courtesy of Josh Mitchell’s stoppage-time winner.
Those results are all the more impressive given that the West Australians had previously managed only one victory in nine games and are still missing a string of first-team regulars due to injury.
Chris Coyne, Scott Neville and Victor Sikora are all unlikely to play again this season, while Billy Mehmet and Josh Mitchell are both expected to miss out this week due to respective calf and knee problems and Shane Smeltz is continuing to soldier on despite not having made a full recovery from a groin strain.
Jacob Burns has been the latest player to join the queue in the treatment room after picking up a serious cork against Wellington, but the club’s nuggety skipper will be given until the last minute to prove his fitness for the AAMI Park clash.
As for the home side, they have had several problems of their own to contend with this week, namely another injury to skipper Fred and the imminent departure of Adrian Madaschi.
The Brazilian schemer has suffered a recurrence of the groin problem that has dogged him this season and is likely to be out for at least a fortnight, while the Socceroos centre-back is in Korea finalising a lucrative move to K-League side Jeju United.
Fortunately for coach John van’t Schip, he will be able to call upon midfield duo Jonatan Germano and Wayne Srhoj who both return having recovered from respective hamstring and quadricep problems.
Press reports this week have also suggested that van’t Schip could move to further bolster his midfield options by snapping up experienced former Adelaide United man Paul Reid who is on the look out for a new club.
Heart will inevitably be installed as warm favourites for this one, but Glory have shown plenty of resolve in recent weeks and may have enough about them to nick a precious point.
Prediction: Melbourne Heart 2-2 Perth Glory
Gold Coast United v Wellington Phoenix – Latest Odds.
Skilled Park
Sunday 15th January 2012.
Gold Coast United have taken five points off the top three sides over the course of the last month and although they did lose to the Jets in between, they have shown enough to suggest that they may not be the cellar dwellers for too much longer.
Next up for Miron Bleiberg’s side is a home clash with Wellington Phoenix and given the Kiwis’ ongoing problems on the road, the Queenslanders will fancy their chances of chalking up what would be just their fourth win of the campaign.
Lady luck has turned her back on United all too often this season, most notably last week when they battered Melbourne Heart but ultimately had to settle for a point and if things finally start to go their way this weekend, Phoenix could be in trouble.
Dutch trio Paul Beekmans, Peter Jungschlager and Maceo Rigters have been instrumental in the club’s recent improvement and all three are expected to start on Sunday, while Dylan Macallister could also feature against one of his former clubs after missing the last three games with a hamstring injury and he will certainly give the hosts an extra physical presence up front.
Experienced pair Glen Moss and Joel Porter do still remain sidelined, along with Chris Broadfoot, but otherwise Bleiberg has a full squad from which to make his final selection.
If the hosts are hoping for a change in fortune, the visitors are keen to find some consistency.
Their last eight games have produced an even split of four wins and four defeats, with memorable performances such as the 4-2 win over Sydney, the 5-2 drubbing of Newcastle and the eye-catching 2-0 victory against Brisbane mixed in with a dismal 3-1 loss to Melbourne Victory and, most recently, an even more forgettable 1-0 home defeat at the hands of Perth Glory.
Despite their yo-yo form, the ‘Nix remain in fourth place and given the amount of problems they have had on the injury and suspension front this season, not to mention their off-field financial issues, that is no mean achievement on the part of Ricki Herbert and his squad.
Paul Ifill is likely to be handed a start this week after being used off the bench against Glory and having turned in another shaky display in the same game, goalkeeper Tony Warner could well find himself handing the gloves over to Mark Paston.
Herbert could make several other additional changes if any of the club’s fringe players managed to impress in the midweek friendly against local side Team Wellington.
The corresponding fixture in Week 1 saw the two sides battle out a cagey 1-1 draw, but United now look to be on the up while Phoenix remain something of a soft touch on the road and a home win therefore looks the go here.
Prediction: Gold Coast United 1-0 Wellington Phoenix
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