Another week, another Thursday night clash to look forward to in the AFL! Footy Mania is underway which means daily AFL action for the foreseeable future, and we have a full preview and betting tips for the clash between the Demons and Power on Thursday night below.
We will be posting a new article EVERY DAY during footy mania, so make sure you regularly check our AFL Betting Tips page for tips on the games of the day.
AFL Melbourne vs Port Adelaide Betting Tips
Gabba, Thursday, 7.50pm (AEST)
Both teams are coming off losses in Round 8 but both had plenty of positives to take away from their respective games. Despite the losses, they come into the game in good form which should make for a great clash on Thursday night football.
Melbourne
The Demons had won two games on the trot over the Suns and Hawks when they came up against arguably the form side of the competition on the weekend in the Lions. They were extremely competitive in the game and had all the momentum in the dying moments but eventually went down by just four points.
Christian Petracca continued his dominant start to the season with another big game combining well with Clayton Oliver, Jack Viney and Max Gawn in the midfield. If that quartet can continue to play well for Melbourne, then they will no doubt be a threat on any given night. The Dees have one of the best looking injury lists at the moment, with only Kade Kolodjashnij and Aaron vandenBerg set to miss from their best 22 this week.
Bailey Fritsch has really come into his own in the Demons forward line this season. Outside of Round 1 against the Eagles, Fritsch has kicked a goal in each of his games and at least two in his last four in a row. Back him to do so again on Thursday night.
Port Adelaide
Port Adelaide was on the wrong end of one of those St Kilda performances we seem to see once every few years on the weekend. The Saints just couldn’t do a thing wrong as they handled the Power by 29 points at Adelaide Oval. We think that might be more indicative of the Saints form on the night rather than a lack of form from the Power though, who have been one of the best teams in the competition to date.
The Power suffered a blow against the Saints, with forward Todd Marshall suffering a thumb injury that will keep him out for 6-7 weeks. They should, however, get ruckman Scott Lycett back from a knee injury as well as Trent McKenzie for Thursday night.
Darcy Byrne-Jones has taken the next step this season and is now a vital cog in the Port Adelaide engine room. He racked up 21 touches against the Saints, his third 20+ game this season and we like him to surpass that mark again on Thursday.
Byrne-Jones 20+ Disposals
$1.91
Prediction
Extremely tough game to call here. Staying well away from either side because I think this game could go either way. Both teams are in similar form and coming off a loss that they’ll be keen to bounce back from.
Opting for the under on total points instead. The Demons have played quite a defensive style of football this season and average just over eight goals per game while the Power struggled going forward at times against the Saints in Round 8. Expect the winning team to be in the 50s-60s here.
