Wednesday, 12 November 2014

A-League Round 6 Preview



Newcastle Jets v Brisbane Roar
Hunter Stadium, Newcastle
Friday, November 14
6.40 PM (AEST)
A winless Brisbane Roar is on the road this week for Friday night’s clash in Newcastle and desperate to register its first points of the season. The Jets will be full of confidence following a 2-2 draw against Premiership favourites Melbourne Victory, as well as defeating the Roar in their two meetings at Suncorp Stadium last season. The Roar’s depth will again be tested with club veteran Matt McKay unavailable after a call up to the Socceroos squad taking on Japan on 18 November in Osaka. It is worrying times for Brisbane and their embattled coach Mike Mulvey.
Pick: Roar (Draw No Bet)

Adelaide United v Wellington Phoenix
Coopers Stadium, Adelaide
Friday, November 15
4.00 PM (AEST)
Adelaide continues to play an attractive confident brand of football under Josep Gombau. The skill level has ramped up a notch with Marcelo Carussca, Sergio Cirio and former Jets winger Craig Goodwin creating plenty of headaches for opposition teams down the left hand side. The crowds are flocking to Cooper’s Stadium with their side yet to record a loss this season. With three games in nine days, the Reds could battle fatigue and may miss the service upfront of star striker Bruce Djite as he battles a quad injury. Adelaide is in a fabulous headspace at present after qualifying for the FFA Cup Final and Phoenix need to bring their ‘A game’ if they are to take the three points back home across the ditch.
Pick: Adelaide United (Goal Margin 2+ Goals) for a little more value

Sydney FC v Melbourne Victory
Allianz Stadium, Sydney
Sat, November 15
6.30 PM (AEST)
This shapes as the match of the round with the Sky Blues and Victory yet to register a loss this season. Graham Arnold has managed to get Sydney doing something they’ve struggled to do in the past few seasons…play as a team, and it is working well. Goalkeeper Vedran Janjetovic is in wonderful touch with the gloves recording three cleansheets and only conceding three goals all season. He will need to be at his best this Saturday as Besart Berisha heads a daunting attack for the Victory. In 14 matches at Allianz, there have been seven draws, and I’m guessing this could be close as the clock ticks towards the 90-minute mark.
Pick: Draw
Perth Glory v Western Sydney Wanderers
nib Stadium, Perth
Sat, November 15
8.30 PM (AEST)
Perth Glory return home after an arduous road trip which netted their first away win at Gosford. The table topping Glory are brimming with attacking options, and a massive week was capped off with a memorable win over Bentleigh Greens as they booked a place in the inaugural FFA Cup Grand Final in Adelaide on December 16. Nebojsa Marinkovic has been devastating from the set pieces scoring three goals in two matches and is great value in the ‘1st Goal Scorer’ and ‘To Score a Goal’ markets. The Wanderers will be hoping for a change of fortune to rekindle their winning ways in the local competition. This will be close, but I think the ‘Frequent Flying’ Wanderers can sneak home and collect the three points to get their season going.
Pick: Western Sydney Wanderers (Draw No Bet)
           
Central Coast Mariners v Perth Glory
AAMI Park, Melbourne
Sunday, November 16
4 PM (AEST)
Irish born midfielder Liam Miller hasn’t allowed the grass to grow under his feet and joined Melbourne City this week after leaving Premiers Brisbane Roar by “mutual consent”. With Aaron Mooy (Socceroos) and Stefan Mauk (Olyroos) away on international duties, Miller will be hoping to fill the void and team up with countryman Damien Duff to take on a Mariner’s outfit that has so far struggled to set the world on fire. The Mariners are coming off the back of a disappointing though predicted FFA Cup semi final loss to Adelaide, but coach Phil Moss should be pleased with a more spirited performance.
Pick: Melbourne City H2H

I’ll be on The TattsBet Brekky show @tattsbetbrekky every Friday and Monday morning around 7:45am AEST over the course of the entire @Aleague season with my previews and reviews of every game.

James ‘Hamez’ Clark

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