Perth Glory vs Central Coast Mariners
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Today’s free tip is in the Australian A-League encounter between Perth Glory and Central Coast Mariners.
I’m expecting a really good game here; possibly the best of the day in Australia. Glory may play a 5-4-1 formation but Zadkovich makes them clock up the miles in terms of getting men forward. They’re a very fit team nowadays, and one that is playing better and better with each passing week. I still think that they were unlucky to lose against City, but that’s the risk you take when you go toe-to-toe with the best team in the country.
Remarkably, Khelifi is back in contention for this game, or so Glory say he is. They were initially expecting the brilliant wing-back to be out for a lot more weeks but apparently it was a false alarm. I would be surprised if he played, to be honest – he’s always been injury-prone – but it’s something to keep in mind because if he does play, they’re always even more lethal. He’s got an excellent understanding with Ryan Williams down the right. Mind you, even if he doesn’t, Burke-Gilroy should play instead and he’s a very underrated wing-back.
With Clisby on the left too, they are not short of attacking support. They reckon Bodnar will play in midfield despite picking up a knock last weekend, but I doubt it – I suspect it’ll be Duncan instead. He and Amini in the middle, Jelacic to the left – it’s a dangerous, hard-working, and mobile group. They’ll be even better if Taggart is deemed fit enough to start; he’s an excellent goal-scorer. David Williams has played well for them, to be fair, but he’s not a ruthless finisher; Taggart is.
The problem Glory have here is that Lachman is suspended. He’s their defensive organiser. They’re not crap without him, especially not with the shape and industry they have. However, they are more suspect without him – presumably it’ll be Muir that fills in there (if Koutroumbis is forced to play at right wing-back). That, fused with the mistakes Cook has been making of late, makes me think that Glory won’t keep a clean sheet in this game. That doesn’t mean they can’t win it; I just think that they’re more vulnerable.
The Mariners are good in front of goal; they shouldn’t pass up on such opportunities. Tulio’s confidence is back now he’s bagged. Silvera and Nkololo in wide areas are nightmares to handle, and Cummings is a lethal finisher. With Nisbet picking the passes, they should find ways past their hosts. Quite whether they can keep them out is another matter, though. The Mariners are lacking a bit of stability at the moment, and even the return of defensive lynchpin Kaltak may not entirely solve their problems.
I mean, they were far too open against Phoenix in New Zealand, and should have conceded more than they did. The same can be said of the game against Western Sydney Wanderers, and then Sydney FC too. Roar didn’t do that much to them but Roar don’t tend to push out much. They just feel a bit more open than they prefer to me at the moment, the Mariners. They’ve got Farrell back at left-back, at least, but it’s not the settled defensive setup that they prefer to have.
I almost feel like the Mariners are ok with that now though. Montgomery has more faith in his team, and he wants them to play on the front foot more often. I admire that, and I share his viewpoint that they’re good enough to do it. They are leaving themselves open though, and Glory love having space in which to counter. I think the Mariners will give a good account of themselves out west, but whether they get the result they want or not remains to be seen.
For me, this game screams “goals”.
Verdict: Over 3 Asian goals at 5/4.
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.
Australian A-League:
Macarthur FC vs Newcastle Jets
Sydney FC vs Brisbane Roar
Melbourne Victory vs Melbourne City
Perth Glory vs Central Coast Mariners
Austrian Bundesliga:
Hartberg vs Sturm Graz
SV Ried vs LASK
Austria Klagenfurt vs Wolfsberger AC
Belgian Eerste Klasse:
Antwerp vs AS Eupen
RFC Seraing vs Zulte-Waregem
KV Oostende vs Sporting Charleroi
Union Saint-Gilloise vs Standard de Liege
Bulgarian A PFG:
Lokomotiv Sofia 1929 vs Septemvri Sofia
Cherno More Varna vs Beroe
CSKA Sofia vs Botev Plovdiv
Croatian Prva Liga:
Istra 1961 vs NK Osijek
Lokomotiva Zagreb vs Rijeka
Czechia Liga 1:
Zbrojovka Brno vs Banik Ostrava
Hradec Kralove vs Mlada Boleslav
Slovan Liberec vs Sigma Olomouc
Teplice vs Slavia Prague
English Premier League:
Aston Villa vs Arsenal
Brighton & Hove Albion vs Fulham
Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Bournemouth
Chelsea vs Southampton
Everton vs Leeds United
Brentford vs Crystal Palace
Nottingham Forest vs Manchester City
Newcastle United vs Liverpool
Finnish Liiga Cup:
HJK vs FC Honka Espoo
KTP vs Inter Turku
SJK vs AC Oulu
KuPS vs Haka Valkeakoski
VPS vs Ilves
Finnish Ykkoscup:
TPS vs Ekenas IF
Jaro Pietarsaari vs KPV
French Ligue 1:
OGC Nice vs Stade de Reims
Racing Club Strasbourg vs Angers SCO
German Bundesliga:
Borussia Moenchengladbach vs Bayern Munich
VfL Wolfsburg vs RB Leipzig
VfL Bochum vs SC Freiburg
VfB Stuttgart vs Koln
Eintracht Frankfurt vs Werder Bremen
German Bundesliga 2:
Jahn Regensburg vs Hannover 96
Greuther Furth vs Fortuna Dusseldorf
Magdeburg vs St. Pauli
Hansa Rostock vs Darmstadt 98
Hungarian Liga 1:
Paksi SE vs Mezokovesd-Zsory
Ferencvaros vs Kecskemeti TE
Fehervar vs Puskas FC
Israeli Ligat Ha’al:
Ironi Kiryat Shmona vs Hapoel Tel-Aviv
Maccabi Bnei Raina vs Maccabi Netanya
Hapoel Jerusalem vs Sektzia Nes Tziona
Hapoel Hadera vs Bnei Sakhnin
MS Ashdod vs Maccabi Haifa
Italian Serie A:
Sampdoria vs Bologna
Monza vs Milan
Internazionale vs Udinese
Italian Serie B:
Parma vs Ascoli
Palermo vs Frosinone
Benevento vs Brescia
Cittadella vs Reggina
Cosenza vs Sudtirol
SPAL vs Como
Perugia vs Ternana
Bari vs Cagliari
Dutch Eredivisie:
FC Volendam vs Vitesse Arnhem
FC Groningen vs FC Emmen
Feyenoord Rotterdam vs AZ
Portuguese Liga 1:
Portimonense vs Maritimo Funchal
Estoril vs Pacos de Ferreira
FC Porto vs Rio Ave
Spanish Primera Liga:
Real Sociedad vs Celta de Vigo
Real Betis Balompie vs Real Valladolid
Real Mallorca vs Villarreal
CA Osasuna vs Real Madrid
Swiss Super League:
FC Winterthur vs FC Sion
Young Boys Bern vs Lugano
Enjoy your free betting tips!