The massive Super Saturday in the AFL continues with a big clash between Melbourne and Richmond from the MCG at 7.25pm! As always, PuntingInDanger is here to give you a full preview and betting tips for the clash.
AFL Melbourne vs Richmond Betting Tips
MCG, Saturday 24th April 7.25pm (AEST)
The Dees are one of just two undefeated teams left in the AFL and they will get their toughest test of the season to date when they host the reigning premiers, the Richmond Tigers, on Saturday night from the MCG.
Match Prediction
How good have the Dees been so far this season? They currently sit in 2nd place on the AFL ladder, behind only the Western Bulldogs with a 5-0 record and a very healthy 147.6 percentage points. If you’re looking for ways to be critical, you could say that their strength of schedule has been pretty light to start the season, winning games over Fremantle, St Kilda, GWS, Hawthorn and an out of form Geelong so far. They will get a chance to make a statement on Saturday night against the Tigers.
Richmond made their own statement in Round 5, absolutely smashing the Saints at Marvel sTadium to the tune of 86 points. It was a really solid bounce back from their two straight losses to the Swans and Power in previous weeks, but it was only a moment of respite before the start of an incredibly tough stretch of games which sees them play Melbourne, Western Bulldogs, Geelong, GWS and Brisbane over the next five weeks.
The Demons are pretty rock solid on the injury front. James Harmes is a still a few weeks away but they are confident that both Bailey Fritsch and Steven May will play this week, giving them a near full strength side. The tigers have a really good looking injury list as well. Only Dion Prestia, Ivan Soldo and Nick Vlaustin will be missing from their best 22 this week, giving the reigning premiers an extremely strong line-up.
What a tough game to call. These two sides seem so evenly matched and it looks like the bookies agree, starting the Tigers as just 6.5 point favourites. I would have the Dees slightly on top on form alone but the Tigers are just so good at the MCG. They have won 16 of their last 20 games at the MCG and against Melbourne, they have won their last five games in a row. Back the Tigers to win this one in a really close encounter.
Tigers 1-39 (1.5 Units)
$2.30
Prop 1
How good will it be to see Christian Petracca and Dustin Martin go toe to toe on Saturday night? The two are arguably the best midfielders in the competition at the moment and both thrive on playing against quality opposition at the MCG. Martin in particular has torn up big games, obviously most notably his three Grand Final performances. Love the value of Dusty to float forward this week and kick a few goals.
Prop 2
The Tigers big forwards have been strong this season but they’ll have a tough time against the Demons defenders in Steven May and Jake Lever. I think more of the responsibility will fall on the Tigers smalls to kick goals this Saturday night and Jason Castagna has been arguably the best of them this season. He has kicked 2+ goals in four of his five games this year and is decent value to snag another 2+ this week.
