A-League Round 14 Betting Preview
Adelaide United v Brisbane Roar
Hindmarsh Stadium
Saturday 7th January 2012 – Latest Odds.
He’s still not everyone’s cup of tea, but there’s no denying that John Kosmina has made a huge impact since taking over the reins at Adelaide United from Rini Coolen.
The Reds have picked up an impressive seven points from their last three games, having scraped together just ten from their previous eleven and were particularly impressive in their midweek win at in-form Melbourne Heart.
Next up for the resurgent South Australians is another major test in the form of a home date with Brisbane Roar, but the Queenslanders will not be relishing a trip to Hindmarsh Stadium as they bid to keep their stuttering title defence on track.
Kosmina, it has to be said, has a very strong squad available to him and has also benefitted from the fact that Sergio van Dijk has suddenly rediscovered his shooting boots.
The Dutch import remains one of the best strikers in the competition on his day and will doubtless be keen to continue his hot streak in front of goal against his former employers.
Spase Dilevski is the only fresh injury concern for the home side this weekend, with a groin strain consigning the versatile midfielder to the sidelines along with long-term absentees Cassio and Evgeniy Levchenko, but Jon McKain is expected to recover from knee soreness in time to feature.
Revenge will of course be a motivating factor for the hosts as they bid to erase the memories of their 7-1 mauling up at Suncorp back in Week 4.
As for the visitors, they at least brought their shock losing streak to an end over the festive season courtesy of a win at Melbourne Victory and a draw at Perth, but they are yet to recapture the kind of mesmerising form they showed during their record-breaking unbeaten run.
Coach Ange Postecoglou will have been delighted to see his charges rattle home six goals in those two games, but a touch concerned that they also conceded four and he may consider making changes for Saturday’s trip south.
Massimo Murdocca could be promoted from the bench in order to bolster the midfield and Kofi Danning has also been recalled to the squad, but creative trio Thomas Broich, Henrique and James Meyer will again all miss out.
The Reds are definitely a side on the up, while it’s hard to tell exactly where Roar are at just at the moment, so it might be worth sitting on the fence and backing a draw in this one.
Prediction: Adelaide United 2-2 Brisbane Roar
Melbourne Victory v Newcastle Jets
AAMI Park
Saturday 7th January 2012 – Latest Odds.
Three consecutive defeats completed a joyless festive period for Melbourne Victory and the knives will again be out for boss Mehmet Durakovic if they suffer a fourth reverse at the hands of Newcastle Jets on Saturday.
Durakovic still seems no closer to blending his star-studded squad into a consistent side and with Victory now languishing in eighth place on the ladder, he looks to be skating on thin ice.
The constant reshuffling of the pack can hardly be helping the home side, but their under-fire coach must now decide whether to keep searching for that elusive winning formula or stick with what he believes is his best side and hope that they will eventually click.
It looks as though he will opt for the former yet again this week given that Tom Pondeljak, Billy Celeski, Jean Carlos Solorzano, Adrian Leijer, Jimmy Jeggo and Matthew Kemp all return to the squad, with Petar Franjic a likely candidate for the drop having been singled out for criticism by Durakovic last week.
A recent poll indicated that up to 80% of Victory fans believe their coach should be axed and those fans will need no reminding that their side was well beaten by the Jets at Ausgrid Stadium barely a month ago.
Indeed, the Jets have also fared reasonably well at both AAMI Park and Etihad Stadium over the years, winning three and drawing two of their nine A-League visits.
The visitors can also draw some confidence from their last two performances which have yielded four points and all but erased memories of their painful 5-2 shellacking at the hands of Wellington in Week 12.
Jeremy Brockie will certainly be full of beans having bagged a brace in the 3-2 win over Gold Coast, but Ruben Zadkovich will miss the game due to suspension and Francis Jeffers and Jobe Wheelhouse have been ruled out by an ankle injury and a virus respectively.
Ali Abbas, Tiago Calvano and Marco Jesic have all been included in the travelling party, as has Ryan Griffiths who will be searching for his seventh goal of an impressive season.
The men from the Hunter are still yet to enjoy the taste of victory on the road, while Victory have made a habit of drawing their home games, so it could be worth backing the spoils to be shared in this one.
Prediction: Melbourne Victory 1-1 Newcastle Jets
Wellington Phoenix v Perth Glory
Westpac Stadium
Sunday 8th January 2012 – Latest Odds.
It’s little wonder that Wellington Phoenix coach Ricki Herbert is so idolised over on the chilly side of the Tasman.
He’s already had to deal with major financial distractions, a string of red cards and a raft of injuries to what is already a paper-thin squad and yet his side have now won four of their last six games to propel themselves up to fourth on the ladder.
They’ve managed to find the net on nine occasions in their three most recent outings, a far cry from the start of the season when they managed only seven in their opening seven games.
The return to fitness and form of Paul Ifill has of course played a key role in their resurgence and indeed with the exception of long-term absentee Lucas Pantelis, Herbert finally has a full squad at his disposal.
Next up for the free-scoring Kiwis is a home clash with Perth Glory and both Nicky Ward and Jimmy Downey may feature against their former club having been included in Herbert’s squad for the weekend.
The visitors, meanwhile, will make the long journey east still searching for their first ever win on New Zealand soil.
Glory’s travel woes are well-documented, but they did manage to pick up a point at Newcastle on their last away trip and were unfortunate not to topple Brisbane in midweek, eventually having to settle for a 3-3 draw with the reigning premiers.
Those results were all the more impressive given that the West Australians have been without a string of key players including Shane Smeltz, Bas van den Brink, Chris Coyne, Scott Neville and Andrezinho.
Both Smeltz and van den Brink will return to bolster coach Ian Ferguson’s selection options this weekend, but tenacious frontman Billy Mehmet will not be available after picking up a calf injury late on in the draw with Roar.
The two sides have already met twice this season, with each enjoying a hard-fought 1-0 victory apiece and Sunday’s clash is likely to be another nip and tuck affair.
And as both sides have made a habit of having men sent off this term, referee Kris Griffiths-Jones could be in for a busy afternoon.
Glory have shown signs of improvement, but their away record makes them very hard to back and therefore Phoenix look likely to edge this one on home soil.
Prediction: Wellington Phoenix 2-1 Perth Glory
Sydney FC v Central Coast Mariners
Sydney Football Stadium
Sunday 8th January 2012. Latest Odds.
Those Sydney FC fans who felt their side’s stunning win over Brisbane back in Week 9 might signal the Sky Blues’ transformation into genuine title contenders could hardly have been more wrong.
Vitezslav Lavicka’s men have won just one of their five games since that victory at Kogarah and have crashed to two consecutive four-goal defeats in their last two outings.
A home clash with the table-topping Central Coast Mariners is therefore the kind of assignment the men from the Harbour City could do without, but that is exactly what awaits them at the SFS on Sunday.
Unfortunately for the home side, Nick Carle’s hamstring injury will again rule him out, but Karol Kisel is available having served his suspension and both Seb Ryall and exciting young prospect Mitchell Mallia are set to be included in the matchday squad.
There is traditionally no love lost between these two sides who did of course do battle in the inaugural A-League Grand Final and the Sky Blues will be keen to avenge the 3-2 home defeat inflicted upon them by the Mariners back in late November.
Now six points clear of Brisbane at the top of the ladder, with a game in hand, there’s no denying that the Mariners are in great shape.
Sunday, however, will mark their first game without Matt Simon who marked his farewell appearance by scoring both goals in the midweek win over Victory.
Graham Arnold’s men will certainly miss the K-League-bound striker whose effectiveness was beyond dispute and it will now presumably be left to Daniel McBreen to fill his boots.
McBreen’s record indicates that he is probably up to the task and in Bernie Ibini-Isei and Mustafa Amini, the Mariners do at least have other major goal threats.
For Sunday’s short trip south, key defender Patrick Zwaanswijk returns from suspension and Rostyn Griffiths will also be included having regained full fitness.
The respective form lines of the two sides, along with the absence of Carle for the hosts and the return of Zwaanswijk and Griffiths for the visitors all point towards another victory for the league leaders.
Prediction: Sydney FC 0-2 Central Coast Mariners
Gold Coast United v Melbourne Heart
Skilled Park
Sunday 8th January 2012 – Latest Odds.
They may still be propping up the ladder, but Gold Coast United did enough over the festive period to suggest that they are not the nailed-on wooden spoon certainties that they appeared to be just a few weeks ago.
They managed to take four points off the top two just after Christmas and could easily have picked up something from their midweek trip to Newcastle which ultimately ended in a 3-2 defeat.
Miron Bleiberg’s men will therefore be quietly confident as they head into Sunday’s clash with a Melbourne Heart side whose run of five successive wins was brought to a jarring halt by Adelaide United on Wednesday.
James Brown and Dylan Macallister have both been declared fit which is a major boost for a side that has managed to score just seven goals at home all season, but Glen Moss, Chris Broadfoot and Joel Porter will again miss out due to injury.
As for the visitors, their main area of concern this week is midfield where they have enjoyed mixed fortunes with Fred returning from injury, but Jonatan Germano and Wayne Srhoj both ruled out.
Coach John van’t Schip will also have to make do without knee injury-victim Simon Colosimo at the back, with Curtis Good set to deputise for the former Glory and Sydney man and David Williams pressing for start in midfield.
Eli Babalj, meanwhile, will look to continue his hot streak in front of goal and Aziz Behich will ask plenty of questions of the Gold Coast defence with his rapid forays forward from full-back.
The four previous meetings between the two sides offer little in the way of guidance in predicting the outcome of Sunday’s clash, with two draws and a win apiece the record to date and it’s no easy task to pick the winner again this time around.
If Heart can maintain their confidence levels by writing the Adelaide result off as a blip, they have enough in their attacking arsenal to get nick a narrow win here.
Prediction: Gold Coast United 1-2 Melbourne Heart
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