A-League MW4 Tips & Preview

A-League MW4 Tips & Preview

The phrase “sheer utter chaos and madness” gets thrown around a lot these days, but that has always been appropriate when it comes to the A-League.

After a quiet weekend of just the two matches, we’ve got six (touch wood) games on the cards including the always highly anticipated Sydney Derby on Saturday night and Perth Glory finally getting their first hit out of the season against Adelaide united to finish of the Round on Wednesday.

Can we make Matchweek 4 a winning one for the Punters?

We give our best bets for all six** matches below in our preview.

(**Preview and tips for Tuesday and Wednesday nights games to be published later in the week.)

Sydney FC v Western Sydney Wanderers
HT/FT Sydney FC/Sydney FC @ $2.75

The Sydney Derby is truly one of the great fixtures in Australian football, no matter the code, and you are always in for a great show when Sydney FC takes on the Wanderers.

With an interrupted fixture, for reasons that are obvious and beyond their control, it has resulted in the Champions Sydney FC having only the one-hit out so far this A-League campaign when they got the job done against the ‘Nix 2-1 in Wollongong a fortnight ago.

Western Sydney, on the other hand, took all three points from their match against the Newcastle Jets with a 2-1 win last weekend.

The Wanderers will sure want to take some momentum heading into Saturday’s clash at Stadium Australia and nothing will get a Western Sydney team up and about quite like beating their cross-town rivals in the Derby.

While Sydney FC has dominated the A-League in recent seasons, their form line in the Derby isn’t that flash, having only won one out of their past five head to head matches.

It should be a cracker of a game, but Sydney FC have had plenty of time to get their heads around the Wanderers, so they should be able to get the job done in this one.

Melbourne City v Western United
Under 2.5 Goals @ $2.10

Western United have had a good three weeks to get themselves ready for the more alternative Melbourne Derby as they head to AAMI Park to take on Melbourne City.

The stop-start ways of the A-League draw as a result of the current climate has seen Western United waiting on the training pitch since their 0-0 draw against Adelaide United in the season opener back on December 28 in Geelong.

Melbourne City has also had a bit of a spell, taking last weekend off having gone down to Adelaide United 2-0 on Jan 3rd and a 1-0 win away over the Brisbane Roar to open the season before New Years Day.

Western United is yet to beat Melbourne City, having lost all four meetings since joining the competition last season and will no doubt be keen to get one up against them since going down to them 2-0 in last seasons Semi-Final.

It might be early days, but neither side is yet to go over the 2.5 goals mark and I can’t see it happening on Saturday.

Happy to take the under at the good $2.10 price at the time of publishing.

Newcastle Jets v Macarthur FC
Macarthur FC @ $2.75

So far in the history of Macarthur FC’s time in the A-League, we’ve had a bit of everything – a win, a loss and a draw.

The new kids on the block have also managed to feature in every match week of A-League 2020-21, which is quite the achievement given all the complications.

Newcastle, on the other hand, is having a shocker and it’s only the fourth week of the season.

Two losses and off-field financial/ownership troubles can make for a very grim time for any team.

Can they lift themselves up and get on the winner’s list this Sunday against Macarthur?

Maybe.

They had some entertaining passages of play last week against the Wanderers including a goal from their skipper Nigel Boogard in the 73rd minute to bring it down to 1-2, but you just can’t tip them at this stage.

Central Coast Mariners v Western Sydney Wanderers
Central Coast Mariners @ $3

Here’s an introduction I didn’t expect to be writing:

The Central Coast Mariners are looking to make it three from three to start their 2020-21 A-League campaign against the Western Sydney Wanderers in Gosford this Tuesday night.

Perineal cellar-dwellers, the Mariners are currently on a streak of winning their past three A-League games and remain unbeaten in their last five.

The 2021 season has started well for Central Coast with a 1-0 win over Newcastle and they got the job done against the new kids on the block, Macarthur in their most recent hitout.

Western Sydney will have to back it up after their 1-1 draw against Sydney FC in the derby on Saturday night.

It hasn’t been the most spectacular start for the Wanderers but they’ve managed to gain a couple of points to get their season started.

James Troisi conceded a penalty in the 63rd minute before making amends by equalizing five minutes later, which kept the Wanderers unbeaten run against their cross-town rivals alive in a highly entertaining contest.

For what it’s worth, we’re going to ride the Central Coast Mariners train for a little while longer.

Two games in, they’ve been a fun watch and they are good value to make it a three win, no loss start to their 2020-21 campaign with the Wanderers backing it up from Saturday.

Newcastle Jets v Brisbane Roar
Brisbane Roar @ $2.90

Lowly Newcastle Jets will have three days to back it up from their 2-1 loss to the A-League’s newest club (and currently the top of the table at time of publishing) Macarthur FC to take on the Brisbane Roar who haven’t hit the pitch in almost three weeks.

Two early first-half goals from Macarthur just about put the match beyond doubt for the Jets, but they were able to get one at the back of the net when Valentino Yuel managed to put them back in the game with a goal just before half-time.

Newcastle fought gallantly in the second half and had their chances but just couldn’t convert.

Somehow, the Jets open as favorite but they are hard to justify backing given everything that is going on both on and off the field.

Prior to their extended break, the Brisbane Roar have had an incredibly exciting start to their season and they were nothing short of sensational against Melbourne Victory in their most recent match.

Back the Roar to take out the full three points.

Perth Glory v Adelaide United
Draw @ $3.45

After a number of delays well beyond their control, Perth Glory finally gets to kick off their A-League season hosting Adelaide United at home.

Somehow, WA Premier Mark McGowan has allowed this fixture to take place and I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if somehow Perth Glory ends up playing Adelaide United every single week given how things roll out west in the current climate.

This game is very hard to get a read of, other than to point out Adelaide United is 1 win, 1 draw to start the season and have kept clean sheets in both.

Perth hasn’t played since the Asian Champions League which was seven weeks ago.

Glory will be keen to impress, Adelaide has plenty going for them.

I’m backing them to split the points.