The football Gods looked after yours truly in Round 13, with a stunning four correct selections from six streaking the field and bucking the belief that it was a difficult weekend to assess.
Frankly, it was about time my tipping planets aligned.
Australia Day’s Thursday night Big Blue opens what looks another ripping round.
The Jets and Roar both need wins on Friday night, Wellington and Perth is the match of the round and three contenders will be staking their claims on a top four spot when Central Coast takes on Western Sydney and the ladder leaders host Adelaide on Sunday afternoon.
Good luck with your tips and be sure to enter them in the sheet below to have a say as the now, under threat, voice of the crowd. In what looks a tricky weekend of fixtures, here is the way the panel sees all the action playing out.
Mike Tuckerman
Draw, Brisbane, Wellington, Macarthur, Central Coast, City
None from six last week means I’ve decided to change things up by failing to get my tips in on my time for the first time ever. I’ll be at the Big Blue, where I’m tipping there’ll be a huge police presence, some antsy security guards and a show of juvenile ‘look at me!’ defiance from Original Style Melbourne.
No idea what will happen on the pitch, but both of these sides are genuinely dreadful – even more so now that Nick D’Agostino has left Melbourne Victory. So let’s just call it a draw and move on with our lives.
Both the Newcastle Jets and Brisbane Roar look like they couldn’t score a goal with those unguarded nets you play with in five-a-side, so it remains a bit of a mystery how either of these two teams plans to win this clash.
The Jets sometimes look like the better side in matches only to offer the sort of penetration you’d find from a blunt better knife, while the Roar will hope newly-arrived Ayom Majok is finally the answer to their goal-scoring prayers. There should only be one goal in it, and it will go to the visitors.
Wellington Phoenix take the show on the road when they head to Palmerston North to host Perth Glory, and they do so on the back of a morale-boosting 2-1 win over the Central Coast Mariners. Ufuk Talay’s side are always tough to beat in New Zealand and they’re chasing a fourth successive win in this one.
Perth Glory have proved tough to beat in recent weeks, although they’ve benefited from playing most of their fixtures at home. But with the ‘Nix riding high, it’s hard to tip against them here.
Will Mile Sterjovski enjoy the new coach bounce? I’m tipping he will against a Western United side that have been arguably the most uninspiring team in the league all season.
For all their undoubted talent, the Bulls never quite got going under Dwight Yorke, so it’ll be interesting to see if the much-travelled Sterjovski can loosen the shackles now that he’s in charge. Western United needed a moment of magic from Alessandro Diamanti to see off Sydney FC in Hobart, but they should come unstuck again.
I tipped against the Central Coast Mariners for the first time in forever last weekend, and they duly went ahead and lost. They’ll fire up for the visit of Western Sydney Wanderers, though, and there’s no denying they’re a tough team to beat in front of their home fans.
The Mariners. Unpredictable. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)
The Wanderers will be disappointed to have come away from their clash with the Newcastle Jets with only a point last time out, but they’ll be up against it when they face a fired-up Mariners side. I expect all three points to stay in Gosford.
Can anyone stop Melbourne City? Seems unlikely. And while Adelaide United usually give the moneybags from the sky blue half of Melbourne a run for their money, Rado Vidosic’s team won’t exactly be quaking in their boots at the prospect of a visit from the Reds.
Mind you, they were off the boil in front of goal in their scoreless draw in Redcliffe last weekend, and they’ll come up against the most in-form goalkeeper in the league in Joe Gauci.
But City should have too much quality in front of goal here.
Stuart Thomas
Victory, Newcastle, Wellington, United, Central Coast, City
In a match likely to produce a sacked coach in its aftermath, Victory and Sydney do battle in what was once a much anticipated fixture. Sadly, both have been awful in recent times and the winner is impossible to tip.
(Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
I’ll side with the home side based on the simple fact that they are the home side.
Newcastle continue to play well at times and then allow points to slip when the tide appears to have turned. Western Sydney took advantage of that trend last week and Brisbane will be a tough nut to crack on Friday night.
This is the moment for Newcastle, 1-0 with another solid defensive Brisbane performance cursed by their inability to get the ball in the back of the net often enough.
Wellington sit pretty in fourth and Perth could move as high as third with a win. What planet am I on? The planet of two mighty impressive and confident football teams destabilising the A-League power-base. I think the home side wins this one, with a decent crowd cheering them on in Palmy North.
Macarthur hosts Western United on Saturday afternoon, with a potential switching of places on the ladder possible should the visitors win.
I think they will after a week celebrating the magnificent goal that snatched the points against Sydney, their improving play and a troublesome seven days for the bellringers.
Based on the football I have witnessed since the World Cup break, Central Coast should beat the Wanderers by two clear goals in Gosford and Melbourne City is highly unlikely to go three weeks without the full complement of points. Adelaide might be about to face them at their most aggressive best.
Blayne Treadgold
Sydney, Brisbane, Draw, Draw, Central Coast, City
Victory vs Sydney is the battle of the battlers! Both coaches remain under pressure and a big loss for either team could draw the curtains for either. Sydney in this one for me and Steve Corica to buy himself another week.
Round 14 presents a huge opportunity for Brisbane to stabilise their season after a sluggish start. Newcastle need to offer more if they are to break through the Brisbane defence.
Brisbane in this one for me… just. Are Perth the real deal? It is the ultimate test of depth and desire as they travel to Hamilton to take on the Nix. Perth will do just enough for a draw and keep their unbeaten run alive.
A new coach for Macarthur, will that have the desired effect or will Western United pile more misery on the Bulls? Neither for me – a drab 0-0 draw.
A good test for Central Coast awaits against the Wanderers. They’ll be fired up after last week’s loss to Wellington, as well as the news coming out of the club throughout the week. CCM at home get the win.
It has been two draws on the bounce for City and the goals have dried up. Not this week though, City for a big win at home against an Adelaide side that will continue its up-and-down run of form.
Andrew Prentice
Sydney, Brisbane, Wellington, Macarthur, Central Coast, City
Imagine an English Premier League round including a Manchester United versus Liverpool game and billing it as a “relegation battle.”
Well, it’s a slightly stretched bow but here are the two most successful A League clubs, playing a 12th v 10th match, with absolutely no form to encourage either sets of fans or hapless tipping panels. The Australia Day Big Blue is usually a hot ticket event.
Between them, these two “big” sides have picked up one win in the last 4 rounds. The last time Victory won was in Round 7, and frankly they haven’t looked likely since.
While Sydney’s form is no better, they were denied a point last week only by a Diamond Diamanti wonder strike. In light of nothing more solid to go on, that might be the difference.
(Photo by Jonathan DiMaggio/Getty Images)
Remember when the Roar were the most feared team in the land based on their scintillating attacking play and “Roarcelona”, Ange-inspired prowess? And remember when the Jets were being lauded as the new wave of attack-minded progress?
Well, here the two teams are, struggling to score or excite the imagination of the faithful support, admittedly hard to break down but not setting the world on fire with thrills at the pointy end.
While neither won last week, neither lost either, which makes tipping a draw a tempting option. Last time they played each other, in Round 8, Brisbane came away with a 1-0 win at McDonald Jones Stadium. It might be a portent…
The Phoenix were wonderful in knocking over the high-flying (or is that smooth-sailing?) Mariners last week. Perth have gone from survivalists to revivalists in the last month, and Macedonia Park has become the smallest fortress in A League history.
However, it’s a long haul in the distance derby and the Glory have been making like Dorothy and Toto lately. They may be clicking the ruby shoes at the end of this one.
The pub team v the champions. Or the current cup holders v the current toilet seat holders. Macarthur’s showing of the door to Dwight Yorke, after an alleged post-game verbal annihilation of the team’s abilities, might just bring a new-coach boost in form and Mile Sterjovski’s appointment may have come at a terrible time for Western United. Two members of the famed 2006 Socceroos, now peering over clipboards at each other.
United needed Alessandro Diamanti’s brilliance to take the points against Sydney FC. Those moments come along but once in a while. The Bulls might just call last drinks at Campbelltown.
The Mariners got smash-and-grabbed in Wellington but should welcome back Jason Cummings for the visit of the Wanderers, whose recent track record in Gosford hasn’t been stellar.
They might have felt unlucky against Newcastle last week, but that kind of wastefulness could get them punished by the league’s hottest attack. The Central Coast fans are rallying to the cause and let’s hope a big crowd leaves the beaches in time for a game between two spiky rivals.
Jamie MacLaren has gone two whole games without scoring. That’s tantamount to a Saharan drought for the A League’s leading marksman, and that law of averages is probably making Adelaide a little nervous. The Reds have been all over the shop form-wise since the resumption.
Jamie Maclaren celebrates a goal. (Photo by Jonathan DiMaggio/Getty Images)
They could help the rest of the league with a strong showing here, lest City start to put serious distance between themselves and second place.
But hey, “finish first and qualify for the grand final and you get to come to Sydney” doesn’t quite have the same motivation as the stacks of cash the APL were dreaming of when THAT piece of business went down. Still, City are due.
Texi Smith
Victory, Newcastle, Wellington, Macarthur, Western Sydney, City
The Big Blue returns to Australia Day after it was moved last year to accommodate a World Cup qualifier at the same venue.
The malaise that has enveloped Sydney FC is nothing compared to the combustion of a once proud Melbourne Victory club that has managed to take the A-Leagues and the APL to new lows.
The second part of a tasty double-header, all things positive will come from the first game of the two-game show, before we get two overweight ageing prize-fighters slugging it out for 10th position. This is not what the Big Blue is meant to be. It will be ugly.
A Jake Brimmer strike will open the floodgates and Sydney FC will be well and truly thumped, leaving them teetering on the edge of the last rung on the A-League ladder. What on earth is this club doing?
Neither Newcastle Jets nor Brisbane Roar can be anyone’s shoe-in for three points at any stage this season. Roar have seen an upturn in performances since the turn of the year, whereas the Jets’ unpredictable form has even taken a down turn and they are staring at the bottom of the table.
It’s only a month since Roar took the three points from Newcastle at what is a happy hunting ground. Though, on a field that has struggled to recover from Elton John, we’ll see Newcastle Jets turn on the style against a surprisingly static Brisbane.
The teams will trade goals in a fabulous opening, Carlo Armiento and Beka Mikeltadze the scorers, but the Jets will edge ahead at the break.
The second half will be on a knife-edge with Roar pressing for the equaliser, but that will open things up for Daniel Stynes to weave his magic, scoring one and setting up the last goal for Trent Buhagiar, as Jets threaten to run riot.
The distance derby gets even further this week when Palmerston North hosts the A-League. If any Perth Glory fan harboured any intention of making the journey, they would be facing an enormous trip.
I guess the A-Leagues decided that no one would, so they can move this game to a venue that’s the equivalent of Macarthur FC playing a home game in Newcastle.
Wellington Phoenix are looking good right now, having leapt up the table following a run of wins, and they should have no trouble in brushing aside their visitors from the West.
Glory’s own run of good results has kept them away from the foot of the table, but they are away from their fortress and without Jack Clisby. Oskar Zawada to score twice to have Phoenix flying by half-time.
It’s a new day, a new dawn at Macarthur FC and it’s scarcely believable that this week has happened. The Mile Sterjovski era begins now and what a time to welcome the league’s nomads Western United to Campbelltown. The home team will start Daniel Arzani and give him free rein to terrorise the Western defence.
(Photo by Jenny Evans/Getty Images)
Their constant attacking will reap no rewards though, the teams level at half time with Filip Kurto a bystander. The Bulls will be stunned into action by an away goal, Arzani replying immediately, and a further two from Ulises Davila will wrap up an opening victory for the new man at the helm.
The Central Coast Mariners defenders will be looking at each other in disgust with ten minutes gone, as the Wanderers find the net for the second time. The visitors’ 4-6-0 formation will reap rewards as they’re forced to run at their men, and the Mariners will be caught out time and time again.
The slow-starting Mariners will come right back into the game though, and Max Ballard will reduce the arrears on half-time. Just as the home team are ramping up for a big second half, an early goal from Calem Nieuwenhof will send the travelling Wanderers’ fans into raptures and change the complexion of the second period altogether.
Melbourne City go into their standalone Sunday afternoon home clash with Adelaide United in a commanding position at the top of the table.
Adelaide did well to somehow keep Macarthur FC at bay last week, and it could have been a very different score line at the end of that one.
City’s two away draws have consolidated their premiers form – if they can back up with a home win, then the can be no disputing their place at the top of the league.
Valon Berisha has been quiet recently, but today is the day he explodes back to life with a goal and two assists, as the City juggernaut marches on.
The Jets are riding the wave of unpredictability that has smashed through the A-League this season, but if they can use their secret weapon in Jack Grealish, er, I mean Daniel Stynes, this could be a glorious day for them. The game won’t pan out that way unfortunately, and Sulejman Krpic will be on hand to slide home a cross from Adama Traore to give the visitors an unexpected match-winning lead just after half-time.
| Round 14 | Mike | Stuart | Blayne | Andrew | Texi | The Crowd |
| MVC vs SYD | DRAW | MVC | SYD | SYD | MVC | ? |
| NEW vs BRI | BRI | NEW | BRI | BRI | NEW | ? |
| WEL vs PER | WEL | WEL | DRAW | WEL | WEL | ? |
| MAC vs WUN | MAC | WUN | DRAW | MAC | MAC | ? |
| CCM vs WSW | CCM | CCM | CCM | CCM | WSW | ? |
| MCY vs ADL | MCY | MCY | MCY | MCY | MCY | ? |
| Last week | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| New total | 21 | 32 | 23 | 30 | 32 | 35 |
As always, get involved as part of The Crowd and take on The Roar’s experts.
Stuart Thomashttps://https://ift.tt/rliEZmP Roar’s A-League Men tips and predictions: Round 14
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