With only two weeks left in the A-League’s regular season, fans and punters can be assured of just three things so far.
Melbourne City are the premiers, they will be joined in the finals by Adelaide, Central Coast and Western Sydney, plus Melbourne Victory will not be playing beyond next weekend.
Outside of that there is a whole lot to play for across the board.
The Reds, Wanderers and Mariners can all still finish in second and avoid an elimination final, while Wellington and Sydney can all but secure finals football with wins in their matches this weekend.
Every match this weekend will have some impact on the finals picture and that makes it must watch action from the local game.
We could be seeing this exact matchup in a fortnight from now under the branding of a win or go home elimination final as fourth hosts fifth.
However the Wanderers will have their sights set on potentially pinching second spot off Adelaide if they can win out and the Reds plus the Mariners slip up this weekend or next.
They were made to work in their win over the Victory last weekend, but the confidence of Brandon Borello up top, combined with the super sub potential of French recruit Amor Layouni makes them a dangerous team for any opponent.
Especially when you consider that opponent is a Wellington side that has not won in four, and have conceded 13 goals in that run of matches.
Western Sydney’s price is a bit shorter than I would have liked, but there is only one outcome that looks like happening here and it’s a Wanderers win that secures them at least one home game in May.
Just when you were ready to write off the Jets after conceding a late equaliser to the Bulls, they go and pull out one of the more dramatic wins of the season.
That has them all the way up to seventh spot and just three points behind Wellington and Sydney, which, if the above prediction is correct, would allow them to draw level on points with the Nix if they can claim this F3 Derby.
However that is much easier said than done considering they have dropped six of their last eight games against their rivals and last week’s win was their first victory since mid-February.
The Mariners would have taken plenty of confidence from their draw with Melbourne City last weekend, dropping points but feeling pretty good if they are to run into the premiers again.
Even though the Jets will be incredibly desperate for all three points, they just don’t seem to be able to match up well with the Central Coast this season, with their win in Gosford coming down more to the Mariners failures on the day than anything the Jets did.
This tip just boils down to taking the better team to get the win with both sides having plenty to play for on the day.
Wonder what Melbourne City have to play for now that they have wrapped up their third straight premiership?
How about dealing a potentially fatal blow to the finals hopes of the side that beat them in last season’s Grand Final.
Not to mention, with their recent drop off in form (by their lofty standards), City will want to make sure their team is firing when their next meaningful match kicks off in just over three weeks time.
Rado Vidosic will be unlikely to offer too much rest to his star players with such a long layoff before the semi finals, instead wanting to keep them sharp which is bad news for the reigning champions.
There was a lot to like about the resilience John Aloisi’s side showed in Adelaide last weekend to pick up a win and snap the Reds long unbeaten run.
Defensively they did a spectacular job keeping Adelaide at bay and if they can find a way to stifle City’s attack, something a few teams have done of late, they might just be in with a shot of grabbing a point.
Considering the under has hit in three of City’s last five and two of United’s last four, there is a fairly solid price on offer for another cagey affair.
With finals mathematically impossible for Melbourne Victory, they have two goals over the coming fortnight.
Firstly they will try and find a way to climb up to eighth spot and avoid an Australia Cup playoff, while simultaneously playing spoiler for other team’s finals hopes, starting with Macarthur on Sunday.
A season that began with so much hope has been nothing short of a disaster for the Victory as this big-name squad has failed to live up to its potential.
Macarthur was another side that had plenty of hope attached to it in the preseason after winning the Australia Cup, but injuries and departures have left this side bereft of options and wide open at the back.
The Bulls have not kept a clean sheet since January 8 and both teams to score has hit in their last six fixtures.
Add in a Victory side with nothing to lose and plenty of attacking talent and we might see ourselves treated to an entertaining, attacking contest.
In terms of a betting play this is a relatively safe pick in terms of finding the best price but at this point in the season, that’s the best option in the market.
Under most circumstances you would be more than happy to jump on Adelaide at $2.20 without a second thought, however the match taking place in Perth is why you have to give it a bit more consideration.
The Glory have picked up 22 of their 28 points in the west this season, with six wins and four draws from 11 matches, which gives them a great chance of winning out and sneaking into the finals.
However the Reds have not lost back to back matches since December and they have taken four points from their last two trips to Perth.
If this was a tipping competition where I had to pick a winner, I’d still land on Adelaide however since this is a betting preview with a few more options on offer, I’ll dip into the total goals market.
Adelaide has the competition’s best attack away from home, averaging just under two goals per game while the Glory’s home games have seen 35 total goals scored so far.
Needing a pair of wins and a lot of help to sneak into the finals Brisbane will be going for broke when they host Sydney FC in this Anzac eve clash at Suncorp Stadium.
The Roar will be hoping to preserve the perfect home record of interim coach Nick Green, who has overseen wins over Perth, Western United and Newcastle up at Redcliffe.
But he will need to have this side performing at a much higher level when they take on a Sydney side that will be flying after belting Perth 4-1 last weekend.
Travelling to Queensland has not been a pleasant experience for Sydney FC lately, with the Sky Blues losing their last two matches in the Sunshine State 3-1.
However they will have the luxury of knowing exactly what is needed of them and a draw may not be the worst outcome.
Look for Sydney to sit back and be happy to play on the counter as the Roar are forced to chase all three points, which means we could be headed for a stalemate.