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The Roar's A-League expert tips and predictions: Match Week 10

25th February, 2021
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Expert
25th February, 2021
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The COVID all clear that Australia is currently enjoying sees A-League matches coming on thick and fast. Another seven will take place in Match Week 10, beginning with the return of the Glory on Friday night when they take on Brisbane Roar.

Saturday presents an interesting Melbourne derby between two teams low on the ladder and Sunday’s derby sees Sydney FC looking for a quick bounce back when they face Macarthur in Kogarah.

Perth will be busy from here on in and back up on Tuesday against the Mariners, whilst an important clash between the Wanderers and City will be played earlier that evening.

Paul Nicholls continues to lead the way in the tipping stakes, yet things did tighten up a little last week, when the man they call ‘70’s Mo’ struggled somewhat.

Good luck with your tips this week and be sure to enter them in the sheet below to have an important say as the voice of the crowd. Here is the way the panel sees all the action unfolding over the next six days.

Mike Tuckerman
Perth, Western Sydney, Western United, Sydney, draw, City, draw

It’s hard to know what to make of a Perth Glory side that has barely played this season, but they’re always tough to beat over in the west.

Western Sydney haven’t looked overly impressive so far this season, but they’ve done just enough in a few of their games so far. Hard to tip against here.

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Even if Melbourne Victory make some sort of recovery in midweek, the clock is surely ticking on Grant Brebner. Expect Western United to take advantage. The Jets always give a full-blooded account of themselves, while Wellington have been guilty of self-sabotage in a few games this season. Hard to separate. Draw.

Sydney FC have started the campaign in pretty ordinary fashion. Questions remain over how they’ll score goals, but they should respond against Macarthur.

City. Is it about to start clicking for Paddy Kisnorbo’s side? They always look one win away from being one of the most dangerous sides in the league. Expect a big performance at Bankwest.

Perth fans must be thrilled to have football back, and they’ll welcome a tough Mariners side to Perth on Tuesday. The visitors should dig in for a point.

Stuart Thomas
Perth, Western Sydney, Western United, Macarthur, Newcastle, City, Perth

Poor old Perth Glory have had zero consistency this season, thanks to a closed border and geographical separation. Now they are ready to fire and will start with a win against a Brisbane Roar side that cannot seem to find the net.

The Wanderers were asleep for a long time against the Phoenix, then woke up, only to be snuck up on late in a draw that would not have satisfied manager Carl Robinson. They’ll win this one off the back of 60th minute substitutions that appear to be doing the trick for the red and black.

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Western United will comfortably account for the Victory on Saturday night, but only if Grant Brebner is able to field a fit team after his injury toll worsened during the week and Sydney FC will find things very tough against a Macarthur team also looking to bounce back in the Sunday twilight.

I’m tipping another loss for the Sky Blues.

The late Sunday match between the Jets and Phoenix has ripper written all over it. Nothing but the home ground is swaying me on this one. Jets by a single goal.

Melbourne City visit the Wanderers on Tuesday and based on what they produced against Sydney, will take the points comfortably with Jamie Maclaren on the scoresheet once again.

Later that night, Perth will find it tough to back up against the Mariners, yet I’m suggesting they can win with HBF Park providing a much tougher environment for the visitors.

Paul Nicholls
Draw, Western Sydney, United, Sydney, Newcastle, Western Sydney, Central Coast

We can get high-definition video of the surface of Mars but back on planet Earth we still can’t get VAR right. Can we petition NASA to put their technology to a more practical use, like in the A-League’s VAR bunker?

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Diego Castro is slotting in nicely and Perth are scoring goals. Brisbane are suddenly the bore-draw team of the A-League, although they have been entertaining. Draw. Adelaide’s away form is poor and the Reds may as well be on the red planet when they travel to Western Sydney.

Let coach Carl Veart drive the team bus down Parramatta Road to the stadium and he’d probably get lost. Actually I would too. Wanderers by five.

What does the grandstand at Mars Stadium in Ballarat have in common with the surface of Mars? The same amount of people. Just kidding.

Western United were in great touch last week and with Iker Guarrotxena in form they should thrash Victory. Sydney FC are still not the finished article and they have struggled since losing Rhyan Grant’s mullet.

Rhyan Grant of Sydney FC controls the ball

Rhyan Grant of Sydney FC (Photo by Steven Markham/Speed Media/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Big brother to smash little brother Macarthur.

Newcastle are showing some steel, or as the folks at NASA would say, tipping the titanium. Wellington are like the planet Jupiter, well-rounded but full of gas. The Jets by one.

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The Wanderers’ forward line is unsettled, coach Carl Robinson experimenting with his starting line-up. Returning hero Mitch Duke will be a welcome addition but last reports have him orbiting the Earth for another week. Wanderers to beat Melbourne City.

To say Central Coast were unlucky last week is an understatement. That they were robbed by inter-galactic forces led by the Evil Emperor Zurg is also an understatement. They should be too good for Perth.

Texi Smith
Perth, Western Sydney, Victory, Sydney, Wellington, Western Sydney, Central Coast
A game a day at the moment, try and keep up! If you’re anything like me, you’re relying on the highlights and quickly watched replays to fill you in on some of the action, as there’s just no time to watch it all.

Very thankful for that bar at the bottom of the screen in Kayo that shows the goals and cards!

Friday night features the game of the round. Brisbane coming into this one off the back of a good point at Sydney and Perth back after another lengthy border restriction enforced lay-off. It will be like a second season-opener for Perth and they will demolish the visitors handsomely.

Adelaide somehow got the points last week, but they’ll not do it at Bankwest. Wanderers have so much firepower waiting to click, and this could be the game when it all comes together. Jordon Mutch and Bruce Kamau to both score in a late flurry as Western Sydney steamroll the Reds in the last 20 minutes.

Roll the dice. This is one of those games where you know the form coming into it, but you also know by now how the A-League works.

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Victory toiled with very poor end-product last week, Western United were classy in delivering a pasting to the Bulls. Victory will stand up, sweep the drinks off, upturn the table and throw it out of the window. A three-goal win!

When Joel King found himself well-placed in the box on Tuesday night and didn’t know what to do, it typified Sydney FC in attack this season. Slow motion and indecisive. But when it does come off, it is devastating.

The visitors have it in them to strangle the life out of this game and nick a one goal win, but not this week. A good old dismantling of the Bulls coming right up, Kosta Barbarouses and Bobo in scintillating form.

Wellington surprised everyone with their point against the Wanderers on the weekend despite missing a few key players. Newcastle were good value for their win at Victory.

We would benefit therefore from knowing the score of the midweek game between Victory and Wellington to call this one, but I’m going with Phoenix 1-0 and another good turnout of local Mexican fans.

Don’t be fooled by City’s win against the Sky Blues. That was an aberration. With Wanderers fresh from a win on the weekend, the enormous wheels of this juggernaut are starting to gather speed. No stopping Western Sydney now and Bernie Ibini will torment the City defence. A big score line here to the home side.

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Who would bet against the Mariners? This is a tasty, tasty match up. Perth will be purring following Friday night, but Mariners are like a mosquito buzzing around your head in the dark.

You might think they’ve gone, but they’ll be back in your ear when you least expect it.

Mariners to silence the home crowd and take the three points back to Gosford. Matt Simon to attract three defenders in the box, leaving Daniel De Silva unmarked to feed off the scraps in a late 1-0 win.

Match Week 10 Mike Stuart Paul Texi The Crowd
PER vs BRI PER PER Draw PER PER
WSW vs ADL WSW WSW WSW WSW WSW
MVC vs WUN WUN WUN WUN MVC WUN
SYD vs MAC SYD MAC SYD SYD SYD
NEW vs WEL Draw NEW NEW WEL NEW
WSW vs MCY MCY MCY WSW WSW MCY
PER vs CCM Draw PER CCM CCM PER
Last week 1 2 2 3 1
Previous total 16 14 21 17 16
Total 17 16 23 20 17

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