The Roar's A-League tips and predictions: Round 2

After a brilliant start to the new A-League Men season and a reasonable one from a tipping point of view, the focus moves to Round 2, with some juicy fare on offer.

The Crowd and a majority of the tipping performed well in the opening week, yet Mike Tuckerman and Blayne Treadgold struggled and will be seeking a quick bounce back. There are plenty of tricky matches for them to negotiate this week.

Brisbane and Melbourne City begin the round on Friday night in a tough clash to predict, Newcastle and Central Coast make their first appearances against the Glory and Wellington respectively and the champions face Sydney FC on Sunday with plenty on the line.

The Saturday night fixture between Melbourne Victory and the Wanderers is clearly the match-up of the round and will be covered live on The Roar at 7:45pm (AEDT). Good luck with your tips for the week and be sure to enter them in the sheet below to have a say in the voice of The Crowd.

Here is the way the panel sees all the action unfolding in Round 2.

Mike Tuckerman

Draw, Newcastle, Victory, Wellington, Macarthur, Draw

There were promising signs in Brisbane Roar’s 0-0 draw with Macarthur last weekend, not least an impressive debut from new signing Carlo Armiento. The big question is whether Warren Moon’s side can get on the scoresheet.

Melbourne City were the better side in their 2-1 win over Western United, but Paddy Kisnorbo won’t be happy with the late goal conceded. The visitors look the better outfit on paper, but if Charlie Austin can get off the mark in the A-League, this one could finish in a scoring draw.

After their opening game of the season was postponed, the Jets will be determined to get off to a flyer against visiting Perth Glory. They’ll feel confident of taking all three points from this clash, but the question is how quickly Arthur Papas’ new signings can get up and running.

Arthur Papas (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

Glory brought little to the table in their 1-0 defeat to Western Sydney Wanderers in Parramatta and this could be a long season for Ruben Zadkovich’s side. This game is surely Newcastle’s to lose in front of their home fans.

Melbourne Victory impressed in their come-from-behind 3-2 win over Sydney FC, even if they gave up a couple of cheap goals in the process. Tony Popovic will expect his side to tighten up in defence in what is a blockbuster Saturday night encounter.

Western Sydney Wanderers did just enough to see off Perth Glory in Round 1, but there are some serious question marks over their attack. With Sulejman Krpic looking like a rocks and diamonds type of a striker, it should be the hosts who finish with all three points.

Wellington Phoenix will be kicking themselves after coming within minutes of downing Adelaide United with 10 men last weekend. They’ll have to pick themselves up after conceding that stoppage-time equaliser and they’ll have a raucous Sky Stadium crowd behind them once again.

Mariners coach Nick Montgomery will hope Jason Cummings is fit enough to start, with the week off arguably doing the Gosford side some good. Look for the Phoenix to avenge two heavy defeats last season to the Mariners.

Macarthur once again look like they’ll be a difficult side to predict this season. They’ve got all the ingredients to give the finals a shake, but so far they haven’t found much fluency under new coach Dwight Yorke.

Adelaide will be buoyed by their last-gasp 1-1 draw with Wellington Phoenix last weekend, but this is another tough ask for Carl Veart’s side. There’s usually goals in this game and with Al Hassan Toure out to make a statement against his former side, it’s hard to see how the Bulls don’t win this.

Western United defender Leo Lacroix turned in a nightmare performance last weekend, and the big Swiss defender will be looking to make amends against the Sky Blues.

(Photo by Graham Denholm/Getty Images)

The problem for the hosts is that they look a bit short on attacking options when Serbian striker Aleksandar Prijovic doesn’t feature. Sydney FC failed to hold on in their pulsating 3-2 defeat to Melbourne Victory in Round 1 and there are some serious question marks over their back four. This one could finish all square at AAMI Park.

Stuart Thomas

City, Newcastle, Victory, Wellington, Macarthur, United

After some sparkling attack last week that eventually toppled the champions, it is difficult to tip against Melbourne City when the face the Roar at Suncorp. Therefore, I will not be doing so, based mostly on a rather ponderous Brisbane performance in the opening week.

A still unseen Jets and a disorganised and uncoordinated Perth against the Wanderers last Sunday makes for a tough tip. The Jets to win based on the promise of their recruitment. Despite tipping the Wanderers to make some waves in 2022-23, the Victory will towel them up with ease at AAMI Park on Saturday night.

Western Sydney look tougher and more committed, yet aren’t quite ready to topple one of the favourites for the title just yet.

Wellington looked decent against the Reds and enjoy home field advantage against the debuting Mariners. It is a tight one to call yet Sky Stadium might be enough for the home side to prevail.

Macarthur were a little toothless against the Roar last week and Adelaide struggled to convert what they should have against the Phoenix until very late in the game. Surely Macarthur bounce back after a poor performance in Brisbane?

Western United and Sydney FC looks a tough one to call, with the Sky Blues set to be bottom early with a loss and the champs looking to get the season rolling at their now more frequent home, AAMI Park. It looks like a draw, yet I’ll take a punt on John Aloisi’s men to remind everyone of just how good they were last season with a convincing win.

Blayne Treadgold

City, Draw, Victory, Draw, Draw, Draw

Despite Brisbane being handy at home last week, Melbourne City’s three-headed monster will be far too attacking. Settle in for the Jame Maclaren, Mathew Leckie and Andrew Nabbout show! 3-1 to City.

Perth struggled to gain any type of cohesion last week against the Wanderers. Newcastle on the other hand are yet to get their campaign off and running following last week’s postponement. Glory will look to catch the Jets cold and continue their positive away record in Newcastle. 1-all draw in this one.

Mark Rudan suggested that the Wanderers were the best team of last weekend, this week he’ll receive a reality check. Victory to keep their 100 per cent record intact and record an easy home win. 3-1 to Melbourne.

It was a false start last week for the Mariners after their match against the Jets was postponed. There is plenty of talk as to whether Jason Cummings and Garang Kuol start for the Mariners away to Wellington. Either way, it’s a score draw for me in this one. 2-all.

I’m not sure we saw the best from Macarthur last week. A Cup hangover? Adelaide to do enough for a draw in Sydney and a subsequent slow start for the Bulls.

Have teams started to work out Western United? Sydney FC did everything they could last week against Victory bar taking the win. Both teams to have a crack in this one. 2-all.

(Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)

Andrew Prentice

City, Newcastle, Victory, Draw, Macarthur, Sydney

The Roar’s goal scoring woes continued from last season against Macarthur. Charlie Austin looked sharp, but wasn’t helped by those around him. If Jay O’Shea’s passing and shooting range is on point, Brisbane may yet trouble the scorers.

City have no such worries, with a potent attacking front line. Jamie Maclaren, as ever, will be the key and he doesn’t mind scoring against his old club.

A frustrating Gosford washout for the Jets last week but that should mean they are raring to go at home against the A-League’s Travelling Wilburys. Rene Piscopo was not selected to start in the postponed F3 derby, which was puzzling, unless he had an injury we weren’t aware of.

The Glory were resilient against the Wanderers but hardly convincing. They may tire of the road pretty quickly.

Victory and Sydney FC put on a show last week in the wet. Chris Ikonomidis must be close to a start after his match-winning cameo off the bench and will be facing his former club. The Wanderers made a 1-0 win look as comfortable as possible last week but their defence will come under more pressure than the Sydney rental market this weekend. If pressure creates diamonds, Marko Rudan’s back four may need to be sparkling against Victory’s potent attack.

The Phoenix played 65 minutes with 10 players against Adelaide. While the corner count piled up, Wellington held firm and went within two minutes of a brave win.

(Photo by Masanori Udagawa/Getty Images)

Forced into a defensive mindset with two banks of four, it’ll be interesting to see if Ufuk Talay decides on an attacking strategy against the Mariners.

If he does, we could be in for a cracker because the Mariners pre-season has been all about attack. Much will hinge on whether Jason Cummings starts – he was listed as a sub for last week’s washout, which was rumoured to have been due to a shoulder injury. Oli Sail and Danny Vukovic could be busy.

The Bulls sure weren’t in no china shop last week. With attacking talents like Al Hassan Toure, Daniel Arzani and Craig Noone at his disposal, coach Dwight Yorke would have been disappointed to leave Brisbane with the inside of a doughnut, goal-wise, although his defence kept up their end of the bargain.

The Reds were equally as shot-shy against the Phoenix, until Craig Goodwin was introduced. You can’t keep a good attack quiet too often and maybe Adelaide will be the red flag the Bulls need to start their charge.

For Western United, much hinges on the fitness of Aleksandar Prijović. His inclusion is the difference between a high school PE teacher’s starter’s pistol at a sports carnival and Dirty Harry’s Magnum.

The Sky Blues have two new attacking assets in Robert Mak and Joe Lolley, to trouble any defence. It’s their back four that might be cause for concern. Alex Wilkinson limped out of the Big Blue at half-time and Jack Rodwell didn’t make it off the training ground. Still, James Donachie scored his first goal last week since the Moon landing (okay, maybe not quite that long), so Steve Corica can take comfort in that, at least.

Texi Smith

Brisbane, Newcastle, Victory, Wellington, Macarthur, Sydney

To say that Brisbane Roar’s goal line led a charmed life against Macarthur would be an understatement, but they went on to have chances to win the game. A swift return to the cavernous Suncorp Stadium is perhaps not ideal given the opposition and they will come up against a City team buzzing from their win against the champions in Round 1.

However, the sparkling forward line for the premiers will be blunted by a surprisingly lively Roar in this Friday night spectacular.

Perth Glory were unlucky to lose on Sunday against the Wanderers. Ryan Williams showed a lot of promise, Mustafa Amini was industrious and Bruno Fornaroli battled valiantly to no avail. Arriving in Newcastle, they will have nothing to lose, but with a fired-up Jets chomping at the bit to get their season underway, this one has goals written all over it. Newcastle to win by multiple goals, with Reno Piscopo at the helm.

Victory looked slick on the offensive on Saturday night and they will be on fire tonight in the match of the round against the Wanderers.

Nani of Melbourne Victory dribbles the ball. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Marko Rudan claimed that the Wanderers looked as good as any team in the opening weekend and those words will be cursed as their bulky defence is given the run-around by the Victory forward line. Nani as the X-factor and a comfortable Victory win.

A battling performance from Phoenix against Adelaide almost got them a win from nothing after the harsh sending off of Yan Sasse for a slip that morphed into a studs-up tackle in front of the referee. Oskar Zawada was lively if not clinical in his debut and Kosta Barbarouses looked sharp.

The visitors were denied a game by the elements last Saturday and arrive at the Cake Tin with a spring in their step. Jason Cummings will star in a fabulous first half that sees two goals traded at the break, but a defensive mistake will see Ben Waine capitalise and fire the home team to a surprise victory.

Macarthur will be scratching their heads at how they didn’t win last week on the road. They come into their opening home game of the season knowing that they have flair and excitement in abundance and that they just need a little bit of je ne sais quoi to convert that into goals.

In fact, with Craig Noone and Lachie Rose pushing for a starting berth, the pressure is on the attacking threat of Ulises Davila, Daniel Arzani and Al Hassan Toure to deliver.

Visitors Adelaide looked short of midfield grit on Sunday in New Zealand and were persistent enough to get an equaliser, but will be given a pummelling by the fizzing Macarthur attack.

Western United threatened to pull a rabbit out of their hat against the tiring Melbourne City on Friday night, but left their run too late to claw back the two-goal deficit. Man-mountain Leo Lacroix had a game to forget, but there were bright spots, the crisp passing and link-up play of debutant James Troisi a surprise to many.

Sydney FC are in the midst already of a defensive crisis, but going forward they won’t need a second invitation. Robert Mak and Joe Lolley looked the part last week and Luke Brattan is back to lead the midfield. Sydney FC back to winning ways.

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