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Opinion
There must be a heck of a lot of tired A-League players right now and Melbourne City, Central Coast Mariners, Newcastle Jets and Western Sydney Wanderers all face a continuation of their busy schedules this week, with multiple matches on the cards.
Sydney FC and Western United play a block buster midweek before both also back up this weekend and the chaos that will be Perth Glory’s catch up on missed games is well and truly underway. Wellington are finally granted a rest and Brisbane Roar, Melbourne Victory and Adelaide enjoy something of a normal week ahead, with just a lone fixture for each club.
Texi Smith continues to set the pace in the tipping despite a better week from yours truly and the crowd continues to struggle.
Good luck with your tips and be sure to enter them in the sheet below to have a say as a part of the fans’ voice.
Here is the way the panel sees all of the upcoming action unfolding.
Mike Tuckerman
City, United, Perth, Western Sydney, Brisbane, Macarthur, Central Coast, Draw, Western Sydney, Draw
Much as the Mariners have impressed me this season, I just can’t see Melbourne City losing to them at home. Are Western United dark horses to win the title? John Aloisi has made them one of the toughest teams to beat and they should take all three points off Sydney FC.
Perth Glory, or more to the point Bruno Fornaroli, were far too good for Brisbane Roar last weekend. They could make it back-to-back wins in Launceston when they take on the Bulls. Newcastle versus Western Sydney on Wednesday sees a battle between two of the more intriguing coaches in the A-Leagues, but while the Jets have blown hot and cold this season, I suspect the Wanderers might win this one.
Brisbane Roar thumped Melbourne Victory in Redcliffe last season and they’ll follow it up with a backs-to-the-wall win at the same venue on Friday night. Macarthur returned to form with a thumping 4-1 win over Adelaide United last time out, and while the Jets should put up a fight, I’m tipping the Bulls to clinch this Saturday night clash.
I keep tipping against the Central Coast Mariners and they keep surprising me. So, um, let’s play Adelaide into some form by backing the visitors at Coopers Stadium. What are we up to? Sydney FC versus Melbourne City? This is a marquee fixture featuring two of the best squads in the league and I reckon they’ll cancel each other out.
How many former clubs does Mark Rudan even have? Expect Tomer Hemed to finally come good and haunt his former club en route to three points in Parramatta when the Wanderers topple the Phoenix. Playing games at an AFL ground in Launceston isn’t an ideal situation, but Perth Glory are doing their bit to keep the season alive. I’ll give them a point against Western United just based on that.
Simon Hill
City, Draw, Macarthur, Draw, Victory, Newcastle, Adelaide, Draw, Wanderers, United
Stuart Thomas
City, United, Perth, Newcastle, Victory, Macarthur, Adelaide, City, Wellington, Perth
Central Coast appear to have reached breaking point, with late fade-outs costing them a possible five points in recent matches.
Victory grabbed them late on Saturday night and it looks like Nick Montgomery’s men need a break, a re-charge and an ice bath.
City too good in this one. Western United continue to roll on and will beat Sydney FC on Wednesday. The Sky Blues are doing enough but are far from the dominant side of recent seasons.
Perth and Macarthur face-off a few hours later and frankly, go Perth! Richard Garcia’s team deserve a medal for both their general patience and the gutsy performance against Brisbane on Sunday. There are enough signs to suggest that once the men in purple get back into the swing of the season, they could well be a fairly competitive team. Macarthur are more than that.
This could be a cracking affair.
Newcastle were belted by City last week and need a bounce back against the still inconsistent Wanderers. They should be able to manage it at home and Victory will head to Brisbane, hoping for another three points as they plan their return to the top rungs on the ladder. Another loss for Brisbane here and things will begin to look dire. Prepare for things to begin looking dire.
Newcastle and Macarthur meet Saturday, both off very short turn arounds and the Bulls may well have the Jets covered by the quality of their extended squad; something that could well play a key role in this fixture for both teams. Adelaide can further torpedo all the momentum Central Coast had previously built with a win on home soil and considering the form of the Reds, I’ll be tipping them to do so.
Sydney FC and City round out the Saturday action with a blockbuster at Kogarah in Sydney. City to win for me, the juggernaut appears to be gaining momentum and the home sides’ veteran legs will be tested here.
Wellington may not know what to do with themselves during their rare days off and should be refreshed for the Wanderers on Sunday night and Perth will be looking to jump further up the ladder when they host United in Tasmania. This is a really close one to call and the draw could well be the way to go. Perth to win, they deserve it!
(Photo by Pete Dovgan/Speed Media/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Texi Smith
City, Sydney, Perth, Western Sydney, Brisbane, Macarthur, Adelaide, City, Wellington, Perth
The Mariners are sitting third from bottom of the A-League; surely this can’t be right. So unlucky to go down to the Victory on Saturday, they will be looking to put it right against a City team who were not really tested against Newcastle last time out.
The heart says a Mariners win here with a stirring performance, but the head says City.
There will be a stalemate of a first half back at AAMI Park on Wednesday afternoon, Leo Lacroix will be the Tom to Elvis Kamsoba’s Jerry as the visiting striker pesters the home defence to no avail.
As soon as the ineffective Aleks Prijovic is replaced by the fizzing Dylan Wenzel-Halls, the game will open up and Alessandro Diamanti will take the game on and fire Western United into the lead.
45 minutes of one way traffic will all be undone when a miss-hit Connor O’Toole cross lands at Bobo’s feet and he sweeps in an unlikely equaliser. The Milos Ninkovic mazy dribble that scores the winner in injury time will leave United players on their knees in disbelief.
York Park welcomes Macarthur FC for another Perth Glory home fixture. Another wonderful opportunity to showcase top flight football to Tasmania, where an A-League team should be one of the next off the rank. Perth continue to use Daniel Sturridge sparingly.
His superior teammate and the superior Daniel at the club, Stynesy, will be on fire tonight. Scoring twice and setting up a third, and Macarthur’s pretty football will be swept aside in a Glory blitz.
Based upon the results and performances recently, Jets v Wanderers is totally untippable. If I was a betting man, I’d steer clear of this one completely.
This is a Jets team who beat Victory away and then folded meekly against City. The raw talent of Daniel Penha and Valentino Yuel will not be enough here against the Wanderers, and it will be brute force akin to Mark Rudan running through a house of cards that will give the Wanderers a boost in a comprehensive Tomer Hemed-inspired victory.
Friday night in Redcliffe.
A boisterous home crowd. A visiting team who jagged a last-minute winner on the weekend, a home team devoid of any form on the road who return to defend their fortress.
All roads lead to a comfortable Victory win, a Jake Brimmer inspired first-half failing somehow to break the deadlock. Cue Rahmat Akbari for a second half goal on the break to kick the form book into touch and give Roar another impressive home win.
The quick turnaround for the Jets and the Bulls will make this a fixture to remember.
Open football, loose defending and opportunistic forward play. Macarthur fresh from a disappointing midweek game will come in all guns blazing, Ulises Davila returning to the form of last season, and Apostolos Giannou giving as good a performance as we’ve seen.
The Jets will be overrun completely, the Bulls scoring four unanswered goals as Newcastle crumble in a one-sided final twenty minutes.
Adelaide United have a chance to erase their nightmare game with the Bulls last weekend with a visit from the unlucky and out-of-form Mariners.
The Central Coast will be smarting from successive defeats and their league position will be weighing heavily on their minds. Craig Goodwin will be a constant thorn, Adelaide ahead early on, but a fightback from Ollie Bozanic, including a terrific length of the field run from the league’s most complete footballer Liam Miller will have the game poised late in the second half.
Up pops Hiroshi Ibusuki with the winner though, and Adelaide leap back up into the mix at the top of the table.
What a game we have on Saturday night.
The biggest game of the season at Kogarah, the premiers and champions against the team that held a stranglehold on the competition before them. Andrew Nabbout is set to shine in this one, given free reign of the right-hand side, freeing up his potent strike force to do what they do best.
Max Burgess will be lively for the home team in an action-packed first half, but it will be a goal either side of half-time that stuns the home team and City come away with the points as the real Sky Blues are reduced to ten late on. A statement win for the pretend Sky Blues.
Based on the performance of Wellington Phoenix last weekend at Leichhardt Oval, they have the poise and guile to overwhelm the Wanderers, just when Mark Rudan’s men were thinking they were back on a trajectory. Jaushua Sotirio and Walter Sandoval will give the watching crowd at CommBank Stadium a display of fast running and direct attacking that the home fans have been missing for years.
Two first half goals will kill off the game until late in the second half when Wanderers grab a consolation through Bernie Ibini.
There has been so much water under the bridge since Dylan Wenzel-Halls poached a win for Western United back in November that the game with Perth Glory in Launceston takes on a completely different complexion. Alessandro Diamanti against Daniel Stynes will be the story, and Bruno Fornaroli will get no change from man-mountain Leo Lacroix.
This is a Western-style shootout, with comedy, theatrics and cheeky antics to go with the skill and trickery on display. A late Daniel Sturridge run and finish will win it for Perth.
| Match Week 16 | Mike | Simon | Stuart | Texi | The Crowd |
| MCY vs CCM | MCY | MCY | MCY | MCY | ? |
| WUN vs SYD | WUN | DRAW | WUN | SYD | ? |
| PER vs MAC | PER | MAC | PER | PER | ? |
| NEW vs WSW | WSW | DRAW | NEW | WSW | ? |
| BRI vs MVC | BRI | MVC | MVC | BRI | ? |
| NEW vs MAC | MAC | NEW | MAC | MAC | ? |
| ADL vs CCM | CCM | ADL | ADL | ADL | ? |
| SYD vs MCY | DRAW | DRAW | MCY | MCY | ? |
| WSW vs WEL | WSW | WSW | WEL | WEL | ? |
| PER vs WUN | DRAW | WUN | PER | PER | ? |
| Previous total | 24 | 20 | 21 | 28 | 21 |
| Last week | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 |
| New total | 27 | 24 | 26 | 33 | 25 |