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Despite gloating over my recent good tipping and surely cursing my Round 21 score, the roll continues. A solid three from five was bettered only by Alan Kearney and Daniel Jeffrey who had outstanding weeks.
The crowd was solid with three points and for the first time in the entire A-League season, I have clawed my way off the bottom rung of the tipping ladder.
I am hoping that things will only get better this week in another split round despite some very tight and unpredictable contests.
Don’t forget to insert your tips into the sheet below as a member of The Crowd. The Crowd is still well and truly in the hunt for tipping honours at season’s end.
Enjoy Round 22 of the A-League and let’s hope for a continuation of the great football we have seen recently.
Mike Tuckerman
draw, Sydney, Brisbane, Western Sydney
“It became very clear to me sitting out there today, that every decision I’ve ever made, in my entire life, has been wrong.”
Yeah, I’m having a wonderful time with my tips. But enough about me. The Melbourne derby? It depends on whether Melbourne Victory are Dr Jekyll or Mr Hyde this week. I’m still not sure Melbourne City have enough firepower to trouble the top sides, but Victory have been diabolical in defence for much of the campaign, so I’ll stick my neck out and tip a draw.
This Newcastle Jets team can really play, eh? They took the game to Brisbane Roar last weekend and should probably have won by a few more goals. That said, the Roar sliced through the Jets on a handful of occasions themselves but it is hard to see Bobo and co being quite so profligate in front of goal. I’m tipping the Sky Blues to take the biscuits in one of the games of the season.
No team has done more damage to my tips this season than Brisbane Roar. Have a quiet word next time you’re down the training ground, will you Waz? On paper, Adelaide United look more than capable of knocking off the Roar on their home patch for the second time this season. So I’m going to tip… the Roar.
Will anyone show up for Western Sydney’s clash with Perth Glory at Spotless Stadium? There’s a chance no one would have showed up anyway even if the home end wasn’t suffering the ignominy of a one-game suspension. Both of these sides have been rubbish for much of the season. The question is: who will be less rubbish on Sunday? I suspect it will be the Wanderers.
Stuart Thomas
Victory, Sydney, Brisbane, Western Sydney
The Melbourne Derby kicks things off on Friday night and I will continue to ride the Melbourne Victory resurgence and stay with them for this one. City just lack something that is hard to define and I can’t see them threatening the top two on the ladder at this stage. It was great to see Besart Berisha back on the scoresheet and if he does so more regularly, Victory might move into strong contention.
The match of the round will clearly be the Jets and Sydney in Newcastle on Saturday. Tipping Sydney is almost a lock each week yet if there was ever a chance for another sky blues loss this season, this could be it. Sydney to win and if the weather is good, a bumper crowd.
The second Saturday game pits two very grumpy managers against each other, both feeling they have copped the rough end of the stick in the last few weeks. For Brisbane, it may be the last chance to push for a top six spot and for Adelaide, a chance to take a comfortable three points after the chaos of the last fortnight where they have found it difficult to maintain a full complement on the pitch. For some reason I think Brisbane will win this one in an incredibly close contest.
The Sunday game sees a desperate Wanderers needing a win against the equally desperate Glory, fresh off the back of their heroics of last week. A loss for the visitors could see them done and dusted for the season yet a win opens up the entire final race for the four teams in contention. Despite a preference towards maintaining interest in the run home, my head says the Wanderers will win this one on their own turf.
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Daniel Jeffrey
Victory, Sydney, draw, Western Sydney
What a turnaround it was for the Victory last week – to go from a 4-1 loss to a 3-0 win is impressive, although it was a shame to see Rhys Williams react as he did to get Dzengis Cavusevic sent off. It’s probably completely coincidental that the Oscars are on Monday. Anyway, with that confidence-boosting win under their belts, and Melbourne City coming off a loss to Perth, I’ll take the Victory in this Melbourne Derby.
Newcastle have performed admirably in their past meetings with the Sky Blues this season, with a draw and 2-1 loss so far in 2017-18. Still, that’s not enough to convince me to tip anything but a Sydney FC win – Graham Arnold’s men continue to dominate the A-League, and there’s nothing to suggest that won’t continue this week.
Brisbane deserved better from their loss to the Jets last week – not that I’m complaining, having tipped the Novocastrians in that encounter – while Adelaide’s recent form doesn’t inspire much confidence. Admittedly, United haven’t finished a game with 11 men since the start of February, but that in itself is a concern for the Reds. I’ll plant myself on the fence for this one and tip a draw.
Western Sydney will be hoping to put a tumultuous week off the field behind them with a win on it against Perth. Given the Glory’s lowly standing and inconsistent February form, the Wanderers should be able to do just that.
Alan Kearney
City, Newcastle, Adelaide, draw
The Melbourne derby is game of the round this week. It’s one win a piece for both clubs and bragging rights are on the line again. The Victory had a big win over Adelaide last week and should be approaching this game with some much needed confidence while City were defeated by Perth Glory conceding in injury time to make it a frustrating night for Warren Joyce and his team.
City will be desperate to finish above their cross town rivals and are currently four points clear of Victory, a win here could put them in a great position to achieve this and I feel this will give them the motivation to get the win, in my opinion they have also been playing with a bit more consistency than Victory so for me it’s a City win.
Another blockbuster game for this round, Sydney are clearly in pole position to take out the minor premiership but Newcastle will want to put some doubts in their mind approaching finals by putting them to the sword on their home turf.
The Jets have been excellent this year and will be approaching this with no fear and with players in form like Andrew Nabbout and Dimi Petratos, they have the quality to get the three points. It’s a really hard one to call but I think the Jets can cause an upset. They were extremely unlucky not to get the win last time out with Sydney scoring late to equalise but I fancy their chances here.
Both Brisbane and Adelaide come into this week’s round having tasted defeat last time out. Brisbane are just outside the finals positions and a win here is a must if they are to have any chance, while Adelaide will want to put last week’s loss to Victory behind them by bouncing back and claiming the three points.
It must be tough if you are a season ticket holder for the Roar this season, 11 games eight losses, one draw and two wins at a ground which was once a fortress. I think the Roars poor home record will continue here, when Adelaide turn it on they are very dangerous and I think they will have too much for Brisbane.
A bad week for the Wanderers after the loss in the Sydney derby. Perth visit them this week in high spirits after a winner in injury time gave them the points against Melbourne City. Adam Taggart will be full of confidence after his header that proved to be the difference.
I expect him to play a big part in this game and Perth should be a bit stronger approaching the end of the season with the return of players from injury. On the edge of the finals, a win here could go a long way to turning their season around. The Wanderers will also want to bounce back, especially for their fans and that’s why I see this being a tight affair and ending in a draw.
| Round 21 | Mike | Stuart | Daniel | Alan | The Crowd |
| MVC vs MCY | DRAW | MVC | MVC | MCY | MCY |
| NEW vs SYD | SYD | SYD | SYD | NEW | SYD |
| BRI vs ADE | BRI | BRI | DRAW | ADE | ADE |
| WSW vs PER | WSW | WSW | WSW | DRAW | WSW |
| ? | |||||
| Last week | 0 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| Previous Total | 43 | 41 | 42 | 40 | 41 |
| New Total | 43 | 44 | 46 | 44 | 44 |