A-League Round 22 (07-12/01)

Brisbane Roar v Perth Glory
Sydney FC v Gold Coast United
North Queensland v Newcastle Jets
Melbourne Victory v Adelaide United
Central Coast v Wellington Phoenix
Central Coast v Brisbane Roar


Friday, January 7

Brisbane Roar v Perth Glory

Verdict: League leaders, Brisbane Roar, will aim to stretch their undefeated run to 20 games when they host second from bottom Perth Glory. On Sunday, Brisbane tightened their grip on the regular season title with an 0-1 win at second placed Adelaide United, widening the gap at the top to 11 points. A day later, Perth were involved in a scoreless draw at Gold Coast United in warm and humid conditions. Trailing sixth placed Melbourne Heart by 9pts with only seven games remaining, it is fair to say that Perth are a long shot to make the finals.

After overcoming a busy schedule in the months of October and November, Brisbane has since been able to get plenty of rest between games. Roar manager, Ange Postacoglou, emphasized just that this week and added that he is expecting even better performances from his re-charged team, leading into the finals. German import, Thomas Broich, is expected to start for the home side after recovering from a groin strain. This means that Brisbane is only two short of their full-strength squad with McKay on international duty (with Australia), and wing-back Ivan Franjic out injured. There's no doubt that Perth has improved in their last set of matches with only one defeat (2-0 loss at Melbourne Victory) in their last five. Despite this, they still have a poor away record (1-3-8) and rely heavily on an aged Robbie Fowler to score their goals. In team news, regular wing-back Naum Sekulovski has succumbed to a knee injury while fellow defender, Chris Coyne, will need to wait further for his much awaited return with an achilles strain. Humid conditions are expected again tomorrow so I have a question mark over Perth's ability to play out the entire 90 minutes, considering that they are expected to line-up with seven players all on the wrong side of 30. With two winnable home games to come I have a feeling that Perth may be willing to 'throw' this game, especially if Brisbane score first.

Pick: Brisbane Roar -1ah @1.94 (188bet, 10 units)
Brisbane Roar 1 - 1 Perth Glory

Saturday, January 8

Sydney FC v Gold Coast United

Pick: Gold Coast United dnb @2.08 (ibcbet, 10 units)
Sydney FC 2 - 0 Gold Coast United

Sunday, January 9

Central Coast Mariners v Wellington Phoenix

Pick: Central Coast -0.75ah @1.96 (ladbrokes, 10 units)
Central Coast 1 - 0 Wellington Phoenix

Tuesday, January 11

Newcastle Jets v North Queensland Fury

Pick: Newcastle Jets -1ah @1.98 (12bet, 10 units)
Newcastle 1 - 0 North Queensland Fury

Wednesday, January 12

Central Coast Mariners v Brisbane Roar

Verdict: Injury plagued Brisbane Roar's 20 game undefeated record will come under serious threat, this evening, when they face a motivated Central Coast Mariners. Currently sitting in third after a 1-0 win over Wellington Phoenix and just 4pts (and three games in hand) behind Adelaide United, Central Coast are in a good position to capture that all important second placing. Following the shaky 1-1 draw against first from bottom Perth Glory, Brisbane again go into this game without some influential players. Skipper, Matt McKay, remains on duty with the Australian national team at the Asian Cup, while exciting winger Henrique joins marauding wing-back, Ivan Franjic, on the sidelines. In contrast, the home side retain the services of in-form striker, Adam Kwasnik, following his one game suspension.

Revenge will be a source of motivation for the Mariners, following a 1-5 defeat to the Roar at this venue, six weeks ago. Since then, the Central Coast has accumulated 13pts from a possible 18 (4-1-1), making them the form team of the competition. The Roar has visibly slowed down in the last month with their exclusions, and their heavy training workload (if rumors are to be believed) in preparation for the final series. In any case, Central Coast has seemingly everything going for them to cause an upset here and I expect them to atleast take a point from the league leaders.

Pick: Central Coast +0.25ah @1.89 (ibcbet, 10 units)
Central Coast 3 - 3 Brisbane Roar