Central Coast Mariners vs Western United
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Not been too well recently so previews will be shorter than usual to allow me to get some sleep, sorry. If anything isn’t covered that you want covering, email me and I’ll provide more information.
Really generous odds on Western United here, folks. I still much prefer the Mariners in general but they’ve been an abomination so far this season. They really don’t look fit; it’s as if they haven’t seen one another play before. A lot has been made of their defending because they’ve looked far too easy to rattle. I expected that, though – they’ve got three new centre-backs, and either haven’t and Hall available, or haven’t played him when he has been – and let’s not forget their new goalkeeper either. Defending was always going to require some work, in other words.
Surprisingly, it’s their attack that has gone to shit. They’re not short of quality; they’re more feeling the absence of players in the final third that can speed play up. They’ve got dribblers and pace but nobody to keep the ball moving fast. Subsequently, their speed and dribblers are used quite sparingly, and thus their talented strikers (hard to think of when they last had such good options to choose from up front!) are feeding off scraps. My opinion on them will undoubtedly change with time, but for now they’re a team to oppose.
I was pretty angry with Western United in their opener against City, and against Sydney FC too – they looked slow and awkward in defence, which is the absolute bedrock of everything that they do. However, they were really bloody impressive against Macarthur FC last weekend. They finally got whipped into shape. Their defending looked more rigid, and they created a plethora of chances. They really should have won, to be blunt.
That in itself is the dilemma though. Prijovic is not injured but also hasn’t been included in the squad – again. Without him, they don’t have a good finisher so it’ll most likely take some gunning to get goals here. Luckily, the Mariners defence is as ropey as hell so sticking a runner like Wenzel-Halls on them and flanking him with Wales and Pain should ultimately lead to a goal or two, one way or another, and if Western United struggle to contain this surprisingly predictable Mariners team then there’s something very wrong.
Unless the Mariners show up in a way that they haven’t managed at all this season, Western United should not lose this game.
Verdict: Western United to win with draw no bet at 9/10.
Saturday’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.
Copa Libertadores:
Flamengo vs Athletico Paranaense
Australian A-League:
Brisbane Roar vs Melbourne Victory
Central Coast Mariners vs Western United
Macarthur FC vs Sydney FC
Austrian Bundesliga:
Salzburg vs Hartberg
Austria Klagenfurt vs WSG Tirol
Austria Lustenau vs Rapid Vienna
Belgian Eerste Klasse:
Zulte-Waregem vs Standard de Liege
Kortrijk vs Cercle Brugge
Westerlo vs Sint-Truiden
Club Brugge vs KV Oostende
Brazilian Serie A:
Goias vs Corinthians
Bulgarian A PFG:
Cherno More Varna vs Lokomotiv 1929 Sofia
Levski Sofia vs CSKA 1948 Sofia
Croatian Prva Liga:
Rijeka vs Istra 1961
NK Osijek vs Dinamo Zagreb
Czechia Liga 1:
Hradec Kralove vs Pardubice
Baumit Jablonec vs Ceske Budejovice
Banik Ostrava vs Mlada Boleslav
Zlin vs Viktoria Plzen
Danish Superligaen:
Randers vs FC Copenhagen
English Premier League:
Leicester City vs Manchester City
Bournemouth vs Tottenham Hotspur
Brentford vs Wolverhampton Wanderers
Brighton & Hove Albion vs Chelsea
Crystal Palace vs Southampton
Newcastle United vs Aston Villa
Fulham vs Everton
Liverpool vs Leeds United
French Ligue 1:
Paris Saint-Germain vs Troyes
Racing Club Strasbourg vs OIympique de Marseille
German Bundesliga:
Bayern Munich vs Mainz 05
RB Leipzig vs Bayer 04 Leverkusen
VfL Wolfsburg vs VfL Bochum
VfB Stuttgart vs Augsburg
Eintracht Frankfurt vs Bv09 Borussia Dortmund
German Bundesliga 2:
Holstein Kiel vs Fortuna Dusseldorf
Jahn Regensburg vs Hansa Rostock
Kaiserslautern vs Nurnberg
St. Pauli vs Darmstadt 9
Hungarian Liga 1:
Budapest Honved vs Fehervar
Kecskemeti TE vs Debreceni VSC
Paksi SE vs Vasas Budapest
Israeli Ligat Ha’al:
Maccabi Haifa vs MS Ashdod
Bnei Sakhnin vs Hapoel Hadera
Sektzia Nes Tziona vs Hapoel Jerusalem
Maccabi Netanya vs Maccabi Bnei Raina
Beitar Jerusalem vs Hapoel Haifa
Italian Serie A:
SSC Napoli vs Sassuolo
Lecce vs Juventus
Internazionale vs Sampdoria
Italian Serie B:
Benevento vs Pisa
Cagliari vs Reggina
Cosenza vs Frosinone
Modena vs Palermo
Parma vs Como
SPAL vs Sudtirol
Venezia vs Ascoli
Genoa vs Brescia
Lithuanian A Lyga:
Jonava vs Riteriai
FA Siauliai vs Suduva Marijampole
Dutch Eredivisie:
SC Heerenveen vs FC Utrecht
Sparta Rotterdam vs Fortuna Sittard
Go Ahead Eagles vs Excelsior Rotterdam
Norwegian Eliteserien:
Stromsgodset vs Haugesund
Valerenga Oslo vs Sarpsborg 08
Portuguese Liga 1:
Santa Clara vs FC Porto
SL Benfica vs Chaves
Arouca vs Sporting Clube de Portugal
Spanish Primera Liga:
Almeria vs Celta de Vigo
Cadiz vs Atletico Madrid
Sevilla vs Rayo Vallecano de Madrid
Valencia vs Barcelona
Swedish Allsvenskan:
Degerfors vs IFK Varnamo
Swiss Super League:
Grasshopper Zurich vs Luzern
Servette vs Lugano
Turkish Super Lig:
Konyaspor vs Kasimpasa
Alanyaspor vs Gaziantep FK
Enjoy your free betting tips!