Unfortunately, we hit on just 1/3 bets in last weekend’s A-League betting tips as the season continues to find its feet. We are back this weekend to take a look at the big Round 3 slate which is headlined by a massive clash between Melbourne City and Sydney FC on Friday night followed by the Grand Final rematch between Newcastle and Melbourne on Saturday.
Catch our preview and betting tips for the key matchups in Round 3 below!
A-League Round 3 Betting Tips
Melbourne City vs Sydney FC (Friday 7.50pm AEDT)
Sydney FC claimed their first win of the season on the weekend after defeating Western Sydney 2-0 on Saturday night. They moved to the top of the A-League table with the win, although another three teams sit alongside them on four points. Off season recruit Adam le Fondre was great in the win for Sydney, slotting his second goal of the season in his second game in the Sky Blue.
Melbourne City were unlucky not to capture a win against the Central Coast Mariners on Saturday afternoon. After going down 1-0 in the early parts of the game, Melbourne City went on to dominant the rest of the contest, racking up 62% possession and firing 23 shots compared to just four for the Mariners. Melbourne City found the equalizer through Dario Vidosic in the 84th minute but couldn’t go on to win the game.
Like they have with many A-League teams, Sydney FC has had the wood over Melbourne City in recent times. They are undefeated through their last seven games against City, dating back to a 1-0 loss in November of 2016. Both of the last two contests between these two teams has resulted in four goals, however, games have been extremely low scoring to start the season so far as teams are still finding their feet. Only one of the 10 A-League games so far has resulted in 4+ goals while seven of them have had two or less goals.
Total goals UNDER 2.5
$1.90
Newcastle Jets vs Melbourne Victory (Saturday 7.50pm AEDT)
The Newcastle Jets will be looking to avenge what was a heartbreaking Grand Final loss at home at the end of last season. Melbourne Victory were 1-0 winners after a 9th minute goal to Kosta Barbarouses helped them claim their fourth A-League championship. The Victory have started the 2018-19 season extremely slow, hwoever, with two home losses in a row to Melbourne City and Perth Glory respectively.
Newcastle have also started the season on a slow note. They had the difficult task of travelling to New Zealand in Round 1 to take on the Phoenix where they went down 2-1. They bounced back, to a degree, in Round 2 with a hard fought 1-1 draw in Adelaide. They’ll finally play their home opener this weekend, which should be a big advantage given they had the second-best home record in the league last season.
The two teams have traded wins over their last four matchups, both winning two apiece. Only one of their last five games has resulted in over 3 goals and the two teams have scored just five goals combined over the first two rounds. We think it's almost a must win game for the Victory here and they have played better than their record suggests so far, we like them to get an away win here.
Perth Glory vs Brisbane Roar (Saturday 10pm AEDT)
The late game on Saturday night comes via Perth as the Glory host the Brisbane Roar from 10pm. Perth secured a 1-1 home draw against Western Sydney in Round 1 of the regular season before travelling to Melbourne in Round 2 and claiming a fantastic 3-2 win over the Victory.
Brisbane are one of three teams in the A-League to have played out draws in both of their first two matches. They have arguably been the better side in both matches though, as they racked up more possession and more shots in their Round 1 game against Central Coast and their Round 2 clash against Wellington.
Tough match to call here, historically Brisbane don’t like to travel all that much whereas NIB Stadium has been a fortress for the Glory over the years. Perth will be fired up after a great win over the Victory on the weekend and should hold the home field advantage here.
