Western United vs Western Sydney Wanderers
FreeWe’re always looking for new recruits to help us so please click here if you want to find out more about the ways you can help us (e.g. local input, watching games)!
There are 6 bankers & 7 value tips in the Members Section today so feel free to sign up here to see them all + team news!
Today’s featured game is in the A-League early kick-off between Western United and Western Sydney Wanderers.
The A-League is never far away from a goalfest; you all know that by now. I can’t make any promises with regard to this fixture for that reason.
However, I cannot think of a fixture in the A-League that is less likely to contain goals than this one. Western United is a team you should all be familiar with by now because I write previews about them often enough. They’re an Aloisi team, which means sitting deep, defending, and trying to nick a goal. They’ve done it really well this season but this is very much a stone cold under 2.5 goals team. Some games are exceptions for varying reasons but rest assured that this team will never voluntarily contribute to an over 2.5 goals game.
Western Sydney Wanderers have been following suit since Rudan took over. The ex-Western United boss has made substantial changes at the back in recent times and they’ve worked wonders, really. Gordon is getting back to his best, it was Cancar’s amazing long pass that setup the first goal last time out, and it was galloping full-back Russell that scored it – all three of those players had barely played a minute under Robinson. In net was Margush, who kept a clean sheet too. Rudan is certainly getting closer to figuring out what his best eleven is, and the team are responding well to him, especially in defence – they’re giving very little away. I don’t think they really did enough to deserve to beat Victory in their last match but they defended well enough to make it happen should a chance come their way.
Essentially, Western Sydney Wanderers have become a tactical outfit, much like Western United, although the former have far greater attacking weapons at their disposal. The style of the two teams is very similar at the moment though. I suspect they’ll annoy one another rather well here, especially if injured Rodwell continues to miss out for the visitors – he’s the main one to prise defences apart for Western Sydney Wanderers nowadays, although Ogawa is lethal on the break, and both Petratos and Troisi are having more and more favourable moments as the games go by.
In due course, I believe Western Sydney Wanderers will become more than a carbon copy of Western United. For now though, the focus for Rudan is to sort the defence out. Once he’s happy with it, then they’ll begin to work out how to hurt teams more often. For now, they’re not doing enough in the final third. Few of their attempts are actually on target, and there’s a bit more of a cautious feel to them so I can see them keeping things tight and focused at the back. You don’t want to fall behind against Western United; there’s seldom a route back if you do!
Western United are naturally the more settled team at the moment. They’ve been playing this way all season long, and have warmed to it so they’re a few months ahead of their Sydney counterparts. I still don’t like to back them because they’re crap in the final third; even Diamanti is starting to look his age. Wales and Pain are good grafters with good speed, and Prijovic is a good finisher, but this team was not engineered to score goals. If they get one though, they are specialists in holding it because of the brilliance of Lacroix at the back.
I’m sure you can see why I think that this game will be something of a non-event, at least as far as a spectacle goes. Both teams are very much 1-0 outfits right now. I give a slight advantage to the hosts but nowhere near enough to condone any 1×2 action. For me, under 2.5 goals at evens is the highly logical call here.
Verdict: Under 2.5 goals at evens.
Sunday’s Thoughts
As ever, if there are any explanations required then please feel free to post a comment! For the remainder of my thoughts on today’s games, see below, although I feel compelled to write that the below are not necessarily my tips but merely my thoughts. For confidence ratings, you’ll need to go to the members section here.
Australian A-League:
Perth Glory vs Brisbane Roar
Western United vs Western Sydney Wanderers
Austrian Bundesliga:
Salzburg vs Wolfsberger AC
Austria Klagenfurt vs SCR Altach
Sturm Graz vs Rapid Vienn
Belgian Eerste Klasse:
Antwerp vs KV Mechelen
AS Eupen vs Club Brugge
RSC Anderlecht vs Racing Genk
Sint-Truiden vs OH Leuven
Bulgarian A PFG:
Tsarsko selo vs Beroe
Cherno More Varna vs Ludogorets Razgrad
Slavia Sofia vs CSKA Sofia
Croatian Prva Liga:
Rijeka vs Sibenik
Dinamo Zagreb vs Lokomotiva Zagreb
Czechia Liga 1:
Baumit Jablonec vs Sparta Prague
Teplice vs Karvina
Mlada Boleslav vs Slovan Liberec
Slavia Prague vs Bohemians 1905
Danish Superligaen:
FC Midtjylland vs Aalborg BK
Silkeborg vs Vejle
FC Nordsjaelland vs Brondby
FC Copenhagen vs OB
English Premier League:
Leeds United vs Manchester United
Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Leicester City
Finnish Liiga Cup:
IFK Mariehamn vs HIFK
French Ligue 1:
OGC Nice vs Angers SCO
Lorient vs Montpellier HSC
Stade de Reims vs Stade Brestois
Stade Rennais vs Troyes
AS Saint-Etienne vs Racing Club Strasbourg
Girondins de Bordeaux vs AS Monaco
Olympique de Marseille vs Clermont Foot 38
German Bundesliga:
Bayern Munich vs Greuther Furth
Bv09 Borussia Dortmund vs Borussia Moenchengladbach
Hertha Berlin vs RB Leipzig
German Bundesliga 2:
Fortuna Dusseldorf vs Erzgebirge Aue
Darmstadt 98 vs Hansa Rostock
St. Pauli vs Hannover 96
Hungarian Liga 1:
Puskas FC vs Debreceni VSC
Fehervar vs Ujpest
Israeli Ligat Ha’al:
Bnei Sakhnin vs Hapoel Nof HaGalil
Maccabi Tel-Aviv vs Hapoel Haifa
Italian Serie A:
ACF Fiorentina vs Atalanta Bergamo
Venezia vs Genoa
Internazionale vs Sassuolo
Udinese vs SS Lazio
Italian Serie B:
Cittadella vs Benevento
Lecce vs Crotone
Brescia vs Frosinone
Como vs Cosenza
Dutch Eredivisie:
PEC Zwolle vs FC Groningen
FC Twente Enschede vs Go Ahead Eagles
Feyenoord Rotterdam vs Cambuur Leeuwarden
FC Utrecht vs Vitesse Arnhem
PSV Eindhoven vs SC Heerenveen
Portuguese Liga 1:
Maritimo Funchal vs Famalicao
Sporting Clube de Portugal vs Estoril
Moreirense vs FC Porto
Tondela vs Sporting Braga
Portuguese Liga 2:
Penafiel vs Sporting Covilha
Feirense vs Rio Ave
FC Porto II vs Chaves
Trofense vs Mafra
Romanian Liga 1:
Chindia Targoviste vs Botosani
CFR Cluj vs Rapid Bucharest
Spanish Primera Liga:
RCD Espanyol vs Sevilla CF
Valencia vs Barcelona
Real Betis Balompie vs Real Mallorca
Athletic Club vs Real Sociedad
Swedish Svenska Cupen:
Eskilsminne vs Orebro
Kalmar FF vs Trelleborg FF
Sylvia vs Sirius
IFK Goteborg vs Landskrona BoIS
Mjallby Solvesborg vs Norrby
Angelholm vs IFK Varnamo
Malmo FF vs GAIS Goteborg
Ytterhogdal vs BK Hacken Goteborg
Hammarby vs Falkenberg
Swiss Super League:
FC Sion vs FC Zurich
Grasshopper Zurich vs Young Boys Bern
Servette vs Luzern
Turkish Super Lig:
Gaziantep FK vs Adana Demirspor
Alanyaspor vs Trabzonspor
Fatih Karagumruk vs Sivasspor
Fenerbahce vs Hatayspor
Enjoy your free betting tips!