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Newcastle Jets vs Wellington Phoenix: A-League live scores, blog

4th November, 2017
Where: Hunter Stadium
When: 7:50pm AEDT
TV: Fox Sports 501
Betting: Newcastle Jets $2.04, Wellington Phoenix $3.50, Draw $3.60
Ticket scalping has been a blemish on the lead-up to this weekend's grand final (AAP Image/Darren Pateman)
Roar Guru
4th November, 2017
82
1172 Reads

Match result:

The Newcastle Jets have continued their excellent start to the 2017-18 A-Leagu season with a 3-nil domination of the Wellington Phoenix.

Final score
Newcastle Jets 3
Wellington Phoenix 0

Match preview:

The Newcastle Jets host Wellington Phoenix at Hunter Stadium in Round 5 of the A-League. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage starting from 7:50pm AEDT.

It really is a dream scenario, twenty minutes gone into a game and you are leading 3-nil. This is the position the Nix found themselves in last week against Brisbane and much like the great Milan side of the 2005 Champions League final, that dream quickly turned into a nightmare.

Wellington took their foot completely off the gas and conceded three goals to draw the game against Brisbane and with that gave away a massive opportunity to claim their first win of the season.

I suppose if it can happen to Kaka and that Milan team full of superstars it can happen to anyone. It will be interesting to see how Wellington react or if they are still haunted by the outcome of last week.

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Newcastle, on the other hand, will be approaching this game with a bit more confidence and optimism. The first half against the Wanderers was the the worst football they have produced this season and they could be forgiven for suffering from the loss of Vargas, however they improved a great deal in the second half and will feel aggrieved not to have picked up all three points.

The Jets have been the surprise package so far this season and after a number of years down the wrong end of the ladder supporters will be feeling much better about their prospects this year such has been the quality of their performances and results.

Roy O’Donovan has made a blistering start to the season and is in red hot form currently leading the A-league scoring charts with five goals. The Irishman is set to make his 50th A-League appearance and will be keen to continue his good form.

Although O’Donovan didn’t score last week he proved a big threat to WSW with his movement and work rate causing the Wanderers all sorts of problems. Definitely one to watch in this game alongside Nabbout and Petratos as they will look to spearhead the Jets attack once more.

Ernie Merrick will be looking for his team to put together a 90-minute performance and to control the game a lot better than they did last week. Newcastle were dealt another injury blow during the week when defender Daniel Georgievski was ruled out for four weeks with a hamstring injury.

While the ‘Nix have yet to pick up a win they have showed in patches that they can get at teams and cause problems. Goals against Sydney and Brisbane show that Wellington can certainly play and they attack teams from the kick-off.

Wellington need to shore up the defensive side of their game and that aspect will receive a massive boost with the return of Andrew Durante, while the attacking stocks will look a bit better with the inclusion of Gui Finkler after an injury lay off.

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Prediction
I feel the Jets will be too strong in this game, they have the confidence of a decent start to the season while I can’t see Wellington recovering from last week. With a strong home crowd behind them I can see Newcastle getting the 3 points.

Newcastle 3, Wellington Phoenix 1.

Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match, starting from 7:50pm AEDT.

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