Round 5 of the 2021 AFL season continues on Sunday with some intriguing games on the cards. Here, we take a look at the third game of the day and the final game of the round between Geelong and North Melbourne. Catch our match prediction and player props for this clash right here!
Remember, you can check out our preview and tips for every game in Round 5 and beyond of the AFL season, just be sure to head to our AFL Betting Tips page for regular updates.
2021 AFL Round 5 Geelong vs North Melbourne Tips
GMHBA Stadium, Sunday 18th April 4:40pm (AEST)
The final game of Round 5 has the biggest odds discrepancy of any game this season! The Cats, despite not setting the world on fire to date, will start as short as $1.03 in the H2H market against the winless Kangaroos who are currently at a huge $12.50 quote.
Match Prediction
Geelong Cats were really poor against Melbourne last weekend in what finished up as a 25-point loss. In many respects it was a loss that was always coming as they were extremely fortunate to win their two previous games against the Hawks and especially the Lions. Now at 2-2 despite a soft draw to start the season, the pressure is on the Cats to start to deliver.
There will be some changes to their team for this clash and clearly the biggest change of all is the inclusion of Patrick Dangerfield. He’s completed his three-match suspension and will be back in action for his second game of the season. On the other hand, Shaun Higgins will remain on the sidelines for at least three more weeks, while Jeremy Cameron is 1-2 weeks away from making his Cats debut.
North Melbourne have had the worst start to a season of any team in recent memory. They have a percentage of just 43 after four rounds and are yet to get within 40 points of victory. Last weekend they actually put up a decent fight against the Crows for three quarters, but were absolutely blown out of the park in the last quarter, getting outscored eight goals to one.
One of the reasons the Kangaroos dropped off so fast in the last quarter last week was the early injuries they suffered to Luke McDonald and Cam Zurhaar. The former will miss three months with a pec injury and the latter 1-2 weeks through concussion protocol. Other key players on the North Melbourne injury list are Aiden Corr, Jed Anderson, Jared Polec and Robbie Tarrant.
Geelong have been far from convincing in the early stages of the season but they return home to the fortress that is GMHBA Stadium and get a look at the worst team in the competition. This is a nightmare fixture for the Kangaroos and unfortunately, we expect it to be an absolute bloodbath.
Geelong Cats -56.5 (1.5 Units)
$1.90
Geelong Prop
You really can’t go wrong with any Cats goal scorer markets here, but the one we’ve landed on is Gryan Miers to kick 2+ at over double your money odds. Like many of his teammates, Miers has had a slow start to the season with four goals from four games, but should be in for a multiple goal day here. We’re expecting the Cats to kick 15-20 goals and that should lead to at least 5-6 multiple goal scorers.
North Melbourne Prop
We certainly recommend avoiding goal scorer markets for North Melbourne players for obvious reasons; however, if the game goes the way we all think it will, then there will be plenty of chances for their defenders to rack up disposals. Jack Zieball has found himself in a new role down back this year and is on kick-out duty, so providing the Cats miss a few shots, he should be a lock for 25+ touches.
J. Zieball 25+ Disposals
$1.83
