Adelaide United v Melbourne HeartWellington v Newcastle Jets
Melbourne Victory v Perth Glory
North Queensland v Brisbane Roar
Gold Coast United v Central Coast
Central Coast v North Queensland
Perth Glory v Adelaide United
Sydney FC v Melbourne Heart
Saturday, December 18
Melbourne Victory v Perth Glory
Verdict: Following the 1-3 derby win over Melbourne Heart and four games undefeated, Victory seem to have built the perfect platform to kick on with a third of the season remaining. Currently sitting in the final play-off spot in sixth position, Melbourne must not let up with only six points separating themselves and bottom club Perth Glory. Incidentally, Perth are the visitors at AAMI Park this evening. The Glory will still be hurting after a refereeing error, last weekend against Central Coast, cost them a certain three points with the game ending 1-1.
Apart from the injured Billy Celeski and Leigh Broxham, the home side has a full compliment of players with Brazilian striker Ricardinho returning after more than six weeks on the sidelines. Perth are bolsted by no less than four players returning from suspension but are still without first choice centre-back pairing, Todd and Coyne.
Perth has beaten Melbourne twice this season which is remarkable, considering the bottom club has only won four games in total so far. Perth will be facing a much tougher task this time round as the two-time A-League champions are nearing top form at the moment. In their two previous meetings, Melbourne was perhaps at their weakest despite the last encounter taking place just a month ago. On that occasion, a 3-1 win for Perth, Melbourne had only one recognized striker available in Archie Thompson, who was making his first start following seven months on the sidelines. Now Melbourne has three first choice strikers available, including league top scorer Robbie Kruse who has scored 5 goals in the last three games.
Pick: Melbourne Victory -0.75ah @1.70 (188bet, 10 units)
Melbourne Victory 2 - 0 Perth Glory
North Queensland Fury v Brisbane Roar
Verdict: Runaway league leaders, Brisbane Roar, will look to extend a current A-league record of 16 games unbeaten when they face second from bottom, North Queensland. The Brisbane juggernaut rolled on last weekend with a 0-1 win at Sydney with the league leaders playing well within themselves for the majority of the match. Roar manager, Ange Postecoglou, admitted after the game that he instructed his team (at half-time) to try and play counter-attacking football in preparation for the play-offs ahead. North Queensland's most recent encounter was also against Sydney FC with the home side recording their fourth win for the season in a 1-0 result. It was a rather fortunate victory for the Fury after Sydney keeper, Ivan Necevski, made a hash of trying to save a relatively harmless Talay free kick.
North Queensland will need to improve exponentially on recent form if they are to get anything from this game. The fact that they are playing their third game in 8 days, in addition to missing a host of key players, and you get the sense that it might be a case of damage limitation for the home side. Make shift centre-back,Osama Malik, is most likely to be ruled out with a hamstring injury. This means that the Fury's already fragile defense is stretched to the limit with fellow back men, Akoto and Kilian, still on the sidelines. In contrast, Brisbane are boosted by the return of injured wing-back, Shane Stefanutto, in addition to hard working midfielder Massimo Murdocca. If Brisbane are in the mood, we could witness a a heavy defeat for the home side.
Pick: Brisbane Roar -0.75ah @1.98 (188bet, 10 units)
North Queensland 0 - 2 Brisbane Roar
Wednesday, December 22
Central Coast v North Queensland
Verdict: A well rested Central Coast can claim third spot on the table with 3pts against a weary North Queensland Fury. The visitors will be playing their sixth game already this month following their 0-2 defeat to league leaders Brisbane Roar. Central Coast will be playing just their third game this month after their match on the weekend (against Gold Coast United) was suspended due to a water logged pitch.
North Queensland is a club in disarray at the moment, on and off the pitch. Sitting just one point off the bottom, injury stricken, and little hope of making the finals, the club's future is also clouded in uncertainty with Football Federation Australia unwilling to fully fund the club for another year. Due to poor average home crowds, the club's chairman has decided to let everyone in for free for the next home tie against Wellington Phoenix, to be played on Monday. This will be a very important game for the Fury, much more important than the fixture against Central Coast. The Mariners have a fully fit squad and would be clear favorites going into this game, regardless of North Queensland's current predicament.
Pick: Central Coast -0.75ah @1.83 (bet365, 10 units)
Central Coast 1 - 0 North Queensland
Thursday, December 23
Sydney FC v Melbourne Heart
Verdict: Reigning champions, Sydney FC, meet new boys Melbourne Heart in a game that is a must win for the home side. The Sky Blues sit just one point and one place off the bottom with 10 games remaining, while the Heart are 6pts better off and just a point out of the top 6. Sydney's woes continued in their last outing against fellow strugglers North Queensland when a fumble by goalkeeper Ivan Necevski condemned his side to a 1-0 loss, and their third consecutive defeat. In contrast, Melbourne Heart produced an uplifting, come from behind win at high flying Adelaide United with late goals from Colosimo and Aloisi sealing an unlikely 1-2 win.
Sydney are a pale shadow of their former themselves this season in terms of form and squad depth. They clearly have not coped with the loss of their more experienced players in the pre-season, three of which are now wearing the red and white of the Melbourne Heart. Now, Sydney rely alot on the goals of Alex Brosque and the creativity of Nick Carle from midfield. In squad news, Brosque is a huge doubt for this game with a calf strain while Carle is likely to play 'some' part after his first game back in two months, following back problems. Melbourne finally got a break against Adelaide United following a luckless streak of 7 games without a win. It is no coincidence that the return of Sarkies and Skoko in midfield, in addition to Thompson (who has been moved up from centre-back to his natural position) produced a win last weekend. With only two losses in their last 7 away games, I give Melbourne a good chance of getting atleast a point in Sydney.
Pick: Melbourne Heart +0.5ah @1.95 (ibcbet, 10 units)
Sydney FC 0 - 1 Melbourne Heart
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