Another weekend of top A-League action awaits us as Matchweek 10 looks to deliver the goods.
As always, there is never a dull moment in the A-League as seven big games await us.
We welcome back Perth Glory after three weeks off, have a couple of the more alternative local derbies and finish it off with a doubleheader of midweek goodness.
With the form changing here, there and everywhere it can be hard to back a winner, but we’ve done our homework and confident we can build the bank with our A-League matchweek 10 tips and preview.
After a three-week break, Perth Glory will be champing at the bit to get back on the pitch and host the Brisbane Roar this Friday night in what will be the first of two matches in Matchweek 10.
While Perth Glory has had a bit of a break not playing matches, Brisbane Roar has taken some leave from goalkicking.
After scoring 10 goals over a three-game period, the Brisbane Roar have suffered a dry spell having just come off back-to-back goalless draws against Sydney FC and Newcastle, after going down to Macarthur 0-2.
They’ll be desperate to get back to that exciting and dominating form we saw from the Roar only a few weeks ago.
Perth are currently sitting eighth on the A-League table, but have only played five matches this season for three wins and two losses, they’ve got some serious catching up ahead of them.
The Roar are still currently in second spot, and even just to get one at the back of the net this week would do them a world of good.
With this being the Glory’s first proper hit-out for a while, the legs will be fresh and they are always hard to back against at HBF Park.
Back Perth Glory for the win.
Adelaide United travels to Bankwest Stadium this Saturday to take on the Western Sydney Wanderers, who are currently on a seven-game unbeaten streak.
The Reds will take plenty of confidence from their 3-2 win over the top-of-the-table Central Coast Mariners at Hindmarsh last Friday night.
Currently sitting in 7th place on the A-League table with 3 wins, 4 losses and 1 draw – the Reds could equal the Wanderers on points if they were able to cause an upset.
The bookies clearly don’t think they stand a chance and have them at $4.10 H2H at the time of publish.
Throughout the season, the Wanderers have shown they can stay in the game or split the points from anywhere, as was the case last week when they drew 2-2 with Wellington Phoenix, coming from behind, taking the lead and then eventually settling for a draw.
On recent form, the Wanderers are clearly the better team going into this match and they should be able to take the full points and make it eight games unbeaten this Saturday.
I’ve gone the half-time/full-time double for a bit of a value play.
In the world of football (and sport in general) there’s only one known cure for what ails you – a win.
Melbourne Victory had a taste of that medicine known as a win, defeating Wellington Phoneix 2-0 for just their second Victory for Victory this season.
Two goals from Rudy Gestede and the players getting around coach Grant Brebner resulted in emotional scenes around AMMI Park as the Melbourne Victory were able to snap a three-match losing streak.
Western United will take plenty of confidence heading into this game at Marvel Stadium after a thumping 4-1 win over Macarthur last weekend in Ballarat.
Despite Western United have played two fewer games than Victory this season (Western United 6 – Victory 8), Mark Rudan’s men currently sit one point above their cross-town rivals on the A-League table.
These two sides have already met this season and drew 0-0.
With both sides taking in some much-needed confidence and the stakes always high in a local derby, I’ll back them to split the points again.
Another of the more alternative local derbies takes place this weekend with Sydney FC hosting Macarthur.
Both sides head into this game coming off some disappointing losses and will be desperate to get back on the winner’s list.
Sydney FC went down to Melbourne City 3-2 on Tuesday night and Macarthur got thumped by Western United 4-1 in Ballarat.
The Sky Blues are currently sitting 5th on the A-League ladder with 3 wins, 2 losses and 2 draws.
While it is still early in the season, last season’s champions wouldn’t mind being a bit higher on the ladder.
Games involving Macarthur of recent have been of a high-scoring nature, with the A-League’s new kids on the block being at both the giving and receiving end of them.
Sitting third on the table, a win over the Sky Blues after copping a good old fashioned shellacking would be a brilliant way to get their first Sydney FC derby win.
These two sides have met only once, when Sydney FC handed out a 3-0 defeat back on January 30th.
Five out of the past six games involving Macarthur have gone past the 2.5 goals mark and given most of their games have been relatively high-scoring of recent, I’ll expect that to continue and back the over.
A fascinating match awaits us as the Newcastle Jets host Wellington Phoenix this Sunday.
After all the doom and gloom and grim predictions at the start of the season, the Jets have been playing some good football and have not lost a game in their past five matches.
Wellington has had a tough run of late, four matches without a win and they went down to Melbourne Victory 2-0 on Wednesday night.
The Nix have gone 15 games without a clean sheet and now sit on the bottom of the A-League table.
Newcastle is rightful favourites going into this game, but given the A-League’s knack of upsets galore and teams fortunes changing every five minutes, this gives me alarm bells for a game that is hard to tip.
I’ll take the draw.
The Wanderers will have just 72 hours to turn it around after a shock 3-2 loss at home to Adelaide United on Saturday as they host Melbourne City at Bankwest Stadium.
While they remain fourth on the A-League table, the Wanderers have just won one game in their last five matches and will want to get their hands on a full three points ASAP.
After a three-week spell, Melbourne City came back in style with a convincing 3-2 win over Sydney FC and will have plenty of confidence to make it back-to-back heading into this Tuesday night.
CIty has gone three games without a loss and a win on Tuesday night would give last season’s Grand Finalists a boost for their top six prospects.
With thrillers and shoot-outs being all the rage in the A-League right now, I’m expecting nothing less from both the Wanderers and Melbourne City and backing the draw.
The top-of-the-table Central Coast Mariners make the journey out West to take on Perth Glory.
After almost a month on the sidelines, Perth Glory came back all guns blazing last Friday night with a convincing 3-1 win over the Brisbane Roar.
While there’s been a bit of an enforced break for reasons beyond their control, the Glory will gladly boast about being on a three-game-winning streak, but have a fair bit of football to catch up on.
When Perth Glory has been on the pitch, they do have a reputation for being one of the A-League’s highest-scoring teams.
Central Coast will head into this game with fresh legs after an 11 day break from their 3-2 loss against Adelaide United.
If they can beat Glory in Perth, then any doubt on them can be thrown at the window, however, I don’t think they will.
Take Perth Glory half time/full time for a nice bit of value.