Brisbane Roar vs Perth Glory
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Today’s free tip is in the Australian A-League encounter between Brisbane Roar and Perth Glory.
Although Perth Glory are undeniably the better of these two teams, I think it makes a lot of sense to back Brisbane Roar with draw no bet here. A draw is quite possible; both outfits are feisty and hard-working, giving little away. However, the timing of this game should really favour Brisbane Roar, and I’ll explain why.
Firstly, Perth Glory haven’t long been back in Australia after a mid-week trip to Japan in the Asian Champions League. The general consensus is that they were unlucky to lose against FC Tokyo, which I can believe – Popovic is a very good manager, particularly for continental competitions. However, A-League teams generally don’t play games every three days. They don’t have big enough squads for it so playing another match in such a short space of time, particularly after travelling such a long way, is a nightmare.
Secondly, Popovic tends to rely heavily on older/more experienced players. That’s not a bad thing, per se, but it’s particularly problematic at a time like this. I mean, are they really going to ask star playmaker Diego Castro to play another game today after playing him for ninety minutes in Japan? They rested him for the game against Melbourne Victory lately purely through concern for his long-term fitness; he wasn’t even injured! I’d like to think that a similar measure of caution may well be deployed here. It may not just be him, either – Fornaroli, Franjic, Kilkenny could all do with a rest. Losing players like that at a time when they’re already without midfield controller Juande and match-winning attacker Ikonomidis would be extremely damaging. Even forcing them to play would be damaging, though – there’s no way they’re fit enough to play in this game to their usual level.
Thirdly, Perth Glory are up against one of the teams they’d rather not face after such a journey because the one thing that Fowler’s Brisbane Roar is guaranteed to make teams do is work hard. Perth Glory win games tactically. They’re not lazy, per se, but they tend to make it so their opponents have to run more than they do. I’m not sure they’ll have the personnel to do that in Brisbane today, and giving such a mobile team more of the ball is going to cause problems, even for one of the best defensive units in the A-League. I think the visitors are really up against it here, to be frank.
Brisbane Roar are nothing special but they do work bloody hard; I’ll give them that. What they lack in quality, they make up for in tenacity. I’ve probably bet on more Brisbane Roar matches than any other A-League team this season because they tend to be rather predictable with what they contribute to matches, good or bad. I daresay I’ve opposed them more than I’ve backed them, but they’ve done something recently that made me think otherwise about the team.
Essentially, the big problem Brisbane Roar have had this season has been putting the ball in the net. They threatened teams, beat them into submission etc. but seldom scored goals, even from the most blindingly obvious chances. However, they’ve recently picked up Western United forward McDonald, and I like that signing a lot. He’s the intelligent front man that they were hoping O’Donovan would be for them. He’s good at holding it up, he’s composed, can beat a man, and is a good finisher. He’s in good nick for his age, too. Someone like that leading this line can lead to far more goals, and it already has. I like what he brings to the table, and now that he’s back from injury, I’d like to think he’d play today.
If he plays, they’ve got a good shot at winning this one; that’s my take on things. I think Perth Glory would have to play marvellously to win this game at this time so I don’t see too much risk in backing Brisbane Roar in today’s early kick-off (06:00 GMT!). All things considered, backing energetic Brisbane Roar to win with draw no bet cover at 5/4 appeals to me a great deal right now.
Verdict: Brisbane Roar to win with draw no bet 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:
Brisbane Roar vs Perth Glory
Newcastle Jets vs Melbourne Victory
Austrian Bundesliga:
SV Mattersburg vs SCR Altach
Admira Wacker vs Sturm Graz
Swarovski Tirol vs Wolfsberger AC
Belgian Eerste Klasse:
Standard de Liege vs Antwerp
Royal Excel Mouscron vs Cercle Brugge
KV Oostende vs Zulte-Waregem
KV Mechelen vs Waasland-Beveren
Bulgarian A PFG:
Botev Vratsa vs Arda
Cherno More Varna vs Levski Sofia
CSKA Sofia vs Botev Plovdiv
Croatian Prva Liga:
Hajduk Split vs Gorica
Rijeka vs NK Osijek
Czech Republic Liga 1:
Mlada Boleslav vs Slovacko
Slavia Prague vs Opava
Slovan Liberec vs Bohemians 1905
Viktoria Plzen vs Marila Pribram
English Premier League:
Chelsea vs Tottenham Hotspur
Burnley vs Bournemouth
Crystal Palace vs Newcastle United
Sheffield United vs Brighton & Hove Albion
Southampton vs Aston Villa
Leicester City vs Manchester City
Finnish Suomen Cup:
Gnistan vs MyPa
FC Lahti vs Haka Valkeakoski
Ekenas IF vs MuSa
KTP vs MP
AC Oulu vs SJK-Akatemia
Ilves vs SJK
KPV vs Kajaani
French Ligue 1:
Olympique de Marseille vs Nantes Atlantique
Lille OSC vs Toulouse
Dijon FCO vs AS Monaco
Racing Club Strasbourg vs Amiens SC
Angers SCO vs Montpellier HSC
German Bundesliga:
Borussia Moenchengladbach vs TSG Hoffenheim
Werder Bremen vs Bv09 Borussia Dortmund
Hertha Berlin vs Koln
SC Freiburg vs Fortuna Dusseldorf
Schalke 04 vs RB Leipzig
German Bundesliga 2:
VfB Stuttgart vs Jahn Regensburg
Hamburger SV vs St. Pauli
Holstein Kiel vs Heidenheim
Dynamo Dresden vs VfL Bochum
Hungarian Liga 1:
Varda SE vs Diosgyori VTK
Budapest Honved vs Puskas FC
Ujpest vs Kaposvari Rakoczi
Fehervar vs Zalaegerszegi TE
Paksi SE vs Debreceni VSC
Mezokovesd-Zsory vs Ferencvaros
Israeli Ligat Ha’al:
Ironi Kiryat Shmona vs Maccabi Netanya
MS Ashdod vs Maccabi Haifa
Hapoel Haifa vs Sektzia Nes Tziona
Hapoel Ra’anana vs Beitar Jerusalem
Italian Serie A:
Bologna vs Udinese
SPAL vs Juventus
ACF Fiorentina vs AC Milan
Italian Serie B:
Virtus Entella vs Benevento
Ascoli vs Cremonese
Cittadella vs Juve Stabia
Trapani vs Spezia
Pisa vs Venezia
Dutch Eredivisie:
FC Emmen vs Willem II
Feyenoord Rotterdam vs Fortuna Sittard
SC Heerenveen vs ADO Den Haag
FC Groningen vs VVV Venlo
Portuguese Liga 1:
Tondela vs Rio Ave
Belenenses vs Maritimo Funchal
Portuguese Liga 2:
Leixoes Matosinhos vs Sporting Covilha
UD Oliveirense vs Casa Pia
FC Porto II vs Estoril
Chaves vs Feirense
Spanish Primera Liga:
Celta de Vigo vs Leganes CF
Barcelona CF vs Eibar
Real Sociedad vs Valencia CF
Levante CF vs Real Madrid
Swedish Svenska Cupen:
Djurgarden vs Dalkurd
Sandviken vs Mjallby Solvesborg
Elfsborg Boras vs Brage
Oskarshamns AIK vs Orebro
IFK Goteborg vs Vasteras SK
Sollentuna vs Sirius
Swiss Super League:
FC Thun vs Luzern
FC Zurich vs Neuchatel Xamax
Swiss Challenge League:
Chiasso vs FC Wil
FC Schaffhausen vs Grasshopper Zurich
Stade Lausanne-Ouchy vs Vaduz
Turkish Super Lig:
Kayserispor vs Konyaspor
Goztepe vs Gazisehir Gaziantep
Besiktas JK vs Trabzonspor
Enjoy your free betting tips!