After four straight losses, defending A-League champions Brisbane Roar defeated Newcastle Jets 4-0 on the road to earn their first win of the season. While it’s fair to say that their hosts didn’t offer much resistance and barely had a shot on target, the Roar put on an impressive offensive display, particularly in the second half, and it seems fair to assume that their confidence will have received a boost as a result.
Melbourne Victory, on the other hand, started their season off with a bang by beating Western Sydney Wanders 4-1. That was followed by 1-1 draw away to a strong Adelaide team, a come from behind 5-2 defeat of neighbours Melbourne City, a 2-0 defeat of Wellington Phoenix and a 2-2 draw away to Newcastle Jets. Most recently, the Victory spurned several first half chances to draw 0-0 away to Sydney FC.
All in all, both sides have good offences and the Roar look to be back in form, so both teams to score looks like a good bet. However, at 13/20 it’s too short for my money and it seems best to back either over 2.5 goals at 4/5 or follow the Brisbane momentum and back the Roar + 0.5 at 0/0 instead.
Whilst very entertaining and full of goals in general, in my brief experience of watching, the A- League is also full of amazing misses when the pressure gets to each team in big games – see Sydney FC’s last two games for evidence, both ending 0-0 when goals were expected – so i’ll chance the handicap instead.
Worth a punt: Brisbane Roar + 0.5 at 11/12 with Bet Victor
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