2022 A-League Men Grand Final Tips and Preview

2022 A-League Men Grand Final Tips and Preview

It’s been an eventful A-League Men’s season, but in spite of the postponements, delays and other issues, we have finally reached the 2022 Grand Final.

Melbourne City will look to complete the A-League double for the second consecutive season having claimed the Premiers Plate earlier this month.

In their third season of existence, Western United will be playing for their first piece of silverware in the club’s history.

It’s shaping up as an excellent ending to an eventful A-League season and we’ve got our Grand Final tips and previews below.

The Path to the Grand Final

It was far from smooth sailing as City claimed another Premiership, pipping Melbourne Victory on the final day of the regular season.

Finishing with 14 wins and seven draws, it allowed Patrick Kisnorbo’s men a bye in the first round before they faced off against Adelaide United in the Semis.

After a scoreless first leg, City advanced in extra time thanks to the league’s Golden Boot winner Jamie Maclaren.

As for Western United, new coach John Aloisi oversaw an interesting start to the season where the side’s first six games finished with a 1-0 scoreline, with United winning four of those six.

In the premiership race for most of the season, picking up one point from their final three games consigned them to third place and an Elimination Final against Wellington.

Goalkeeper Jamie Young was the hero of that match making save after save in their 1-0 win, booking a date with Melbourne Victory in the Semi Final.

Despite dropping the first leg 1-0, Western United roared home to upset their local rivals and win on the night 4-1 for their first Grand Final.

Head to Head Meetings

Over Western United’s three seasons of existence, this has been a rivalry in two parts.

Melbourne City won the first five meetings before Western United too the next three, including a pair of 1-0 victories to kick off this current season.

Without a doubt the best game between the two came in March as Western United shot out to a 2-0 lead before Connor Metcalfe and Maclaren rescued what turned out to be a crucial point for City.

Total Goals Bets
Both Teams to Score @ $1.70

No matter which part of the world they are played in, football Grand Finals and Cup Finals tend to be pretty cagey affairs as both clubs set out to avoid making a potentially crucial mistake.

Last season was just the sixth time Both Teams to Score has hit in the 90 minutes of normal time however looking at the form both clubs are bringing into this game, it looks like the play to take.

While both clubs have some of the league’s best defenders on display, neither has been watertight at the back of late with City conceding in four of their last five in the league and Western United failing to keep a clean sheet in five of their last six.

Even if the match does start off on a slightly cagey note, the level of attacking talent on display will undoubtedly find a breakthrough at some stage which should open things up a bit.

Goalscorer Bets
SGM: Jamie Maclaren and Aleksandar Prijovic Anytime Goalscorers @ $5.96

That attacking talent makes the anytime goalscorer market a good one to study closely with no shortage of options on both sides.

The obvious option is to back the two leading marksmen on both sides with Jamie Maclaren for City and Aleksandar Prijovic and their combined 28 goals from the last season.

I’ll pair the two of them up in a SGM simply because if their respective sides are going to score, chances are they will be in the mix.

However the value lies in the secondary goalscorers as the market is well aware of their respective prowess and they will be priced as such.

Starting with City, Matthew Leckie has popped up with nine goals after a slow start to life back in the A-League, however Marco Tilio is always a threat, even if it’s in a substitute role like we saw at home to Adelaide United and he looks like the value option in this market.

Similarly for Western United, the temptation might be to back Dylan Wenzel-Halls who scored the final goal on Saturday night, however Steven Lustica has been a sneaky good contributor as he enjoys his best goalscoring return since the 2014-2015 season with Brisbane.

His five goals is good enough for equal second at Western United and he has experience at this time of the year too.

Match Result Bets
SGM: Jamie Maclaren and Aleksandar Prijovic Anytime Goalscorers

That attacking talent makes the anytime goalscorer market a good one to study closely with no shortage of options on both sides.

The obvious option is to back the two leading marksmen on both sides with Jamie Maclaren for City and Aleksandar Prijovic and their combined 28 goals from the last season.

I’ll pair the two of them up in a SGM simply because if their respective sides are going to score, chances are they will be in the mix.

However the value lies in the secondary goalscorers as the market is well aware of their respective prowess and they will be priced as such.

Starting with City, Matthew Leckie has popped up with nine goals after a slow start to life back in the A-League, however Marco Tilio is always a threat, even if it’s in a substitute role like we saw at home to Adelaide United and he looks like the value option in this market.

Similarly for Western United, the temptation might be to back Dylan Wenzel-Halls who scored the final goal on Saturday night, however Steven Lustica has been a sneaky good contributor as he enjoys his best goalscoring return since the 2014-2015 season with Brisbane.

His five goals is good enough for equal second at Western United and he has experience at this time of the year too.