Round 4 in the AFL kicks off on Thursday night once again this week. The Swans will host the Bombers from the SCG and as usual, Punting In Danger is on deck to give you his full preview and betting tips for the game below.
BYB had a fantastic week in Round 3, hitting on 7/9 best bets and finishing the week over 8 units in profit.
AFL Sydney vs Essendon Betting Tips
SCG, Thursday 8th April 7.20pm
These two sides have played some absolute thrillers over the past few seasons and Thursday night promises to be another good game with both teams coming into the clash in form.
Match Prediction
How good have the Swans been so far this season? They are far and away the most surprising team through the opening three rounds, having won all three of their games and dominating the reigning premier Richmond Tigers on the weekend. The Swans young guns have been the catalyst of their dominance so far this season and they will likely rack up a third straight rising star nomination after Chad Warner played well on the weekend to follow up Errol Gulden and Braeden Campbell’s performances in the first two rounds.
The Bombers were unlucky not to win in Round 1 against the Hawks before being demolished in Round 2 by the Power. Many through their season might be done and dusted but they had arguably the best game of any team in Round 3 as they smashed the Saints by 75 points, kicking 22 goals in the process.
The Dons are still fighting an extensive injury list but it arguably worked out in their favour on the weekend against the Saints, as a bunch of hungry youngsters who just wanted to chase and put pressure on came into the side at the expense of some more comfortable players.
The Swans have arguably the best injury list in the league at the moment. Ruckman Sam Naismith returned to training this week as he continues to recover from an ACL and midfielder James Rowbottom should come back into the side against the Bombers. Only Naismith and Ben Ronke are missing from their best 22 with Lance Franklin also coming back in to the side this week.
Have to think the Swans will win this one with the form they are in and given the fact they are at home but the 28.5 point line is a bit too hefty for me considering how close games between these two teams have been in recent history. their last three games have been decided by a combined margin of just 21 points.
Leaning more towards the over here. The Swans have been scoring in bunches, putting up 125, 121 and 117 points in their three respective games this year while Essendon kicked 22 goals and scored the 2nd highest score of the season with 143 points against the Saints. Back this one to be a bit of a shootout at the SCG, which is the highest scoring ground that is actively used in the AFL, with teams averaging 97.64 points there.
Over 177.5 Points (1.5 Units)
$1.88
Swans Prop
Buddy Franklin has booted more goals against Essendon than any other team over the course of his career and he has done so in just 16 games, which is just the fifth fewest games played against any opponent. He has absolutely teared them up on a regular basis and with the dominance of the big forward back in 2021, he could be on for a big game on Thursday night.
Bombers Prop
Jordan Ridley has been taking the kickouts for the Bombers which has resulted in him racking up 32 and 35 possessions over his last two games. As we predicted last week, Darcy Parish had a massive increase in midfield time resulting in a big 34 disposal game. Back them both to pass the 25 touch mark on Thursday night in a same game multi for $1.93.
Parish & Ridley 25+ Disp.
$1.93
