A-League Tips – Round 2

It’s Friday again… and time for my A-League tips.

I was reasonably happy with how I went last week… let’s see if I can match or better the effort this week.

Adelaide United FC v Queensland Roar FC [1:1]
New Zealand Knights FC v Sydney FC [0:1]
Central Coast Mariners FC v Newcastle Jets FC [2:1]
Melbourne Victory FC v Perth Glory FC [1:0]

Some reasoning for these tips?

Queensland Roar showed last week that they’re going to take the game to their opponents. They played fast, attacking football and that’s great for them and for the game. Last week, Adelaide United proved that they’re capable winning away from home and they’re sure to be even better in front of a parochial crowd of crow eaters. This’ll be a great match, and I think they’ll be too evenly matched at the end of the 90 minutes.

Sydney FC will miss Yorke and Petrovski who are away on international duty, but even without them, they’re sure to be too strong for the Knights. Sydney FC with a full strength squad would probably bag 3 or 4 goals against the Kiwi, but without their two key strikers, they’ll be happy with the 1:0 win I’m predicting.

The regional NSW derby is sure to be a good match, but Central Coast Mariners have to be favoured to win. Their winning squad from last week is unchanged and they’re probably still on the high from winning the pre-season cup. Combine that with the advantage of playing at their home ground, and I have to say Newcastle Jets will be happy with a draw, but I doubt they’ll leave Gosford happy.

Perth Glory showed last week that they’re not the side that dominated the NSL. Losing at home was almost unheard of back when the Glory were glorious, but now, they’re just a sorry bunch of old sandgropers. Melbourne, even without Archie “International Duty” Thompson, will be too good for Perth… lets just hope that there’s a sell-out crowd at Olympic Park to show the rest of Australia that Melbourne is the sporting capital of Australia, for more than just AFL and tennis.