A-League tipping Round 18 : Battle for the spoon and double derby delight

Go on then. One last time before we give up on The Roar Sports ever coming back. Not a peep for three weeks; unbelievable when you think about it and whoever is behind this hijacking of Australia’s premier sporting debate should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves. At least as ashamed as our tipsters were with last week’s meagre tally.

We’re two-thirds of the way through the A-League season and the Box Office Jets are stretching their lead at the top following an incredible run of wins. Statistically it must end soon, and all it takes is a dodgy refereeing decision, a tight VAR call or an own goal off a defender’s backside and the season can look very different for any of the teams.

Have a chuckle along with the tipsters as they try to tip the untippable, for one last time at this temporary home of The Roar Sports tips and predictions. And lo and behold someone has tipped a draw! It could be the clinching tip.

Stuart Thomas

Adelaide, Wellington, Sydney, City, Central Coast, Newcastle, Macarthur

I’m loving the Reds, as always, and am seeing another win in front of a big crowd at Coopers tonight. Perth brave as always. The New Zealand Derby will go the way of the home side in a stunning result for them and Sydney will get all three points against a fading Brisbane Roar team that is about to struggle terribly on the road.

City wins the Melbourne Derby on a fiery night that I hope does not descend into the kind of madness we have seen before. Central Coast are lining up for a late season charge and looking decent, they should beat the McWanderers. The Jets are the hottest ticket in town and a win against Macarthur will continue the momentum. But the Bulls might back up with a win against the Mariners midweek on the short turnaround.

Andrew Prentice

Adelaide, Auckland, Sydney, Victory, Central Coast, Newcastle, Draw.

The Reds snuck away from Sydney with all three points in a coup last week. Perth came up against the Jets juggernaut and were found wanting. Adelaide are a tough nut at home and the Glory’s glorious inconsistencies don’t make for promise.

I had a sneaking suspicion Wellington would finally break their NZ derby hoodoo, but their form hasn’t suggested that’s likely. Auckland are in a rut of their own with only one win in their past six games. I’m picking the Blue half of the North Island if only because of their respective table standings. They need Lachlan Brook back on the scorers sheet to ensure they maintain their dominance over the Phoenix.

The Sky Blues’ mixed bag continued. Their only win since returning to the SFS has been over the Wanderers. The Roar semi-arrested their own alarming slump with a draw last round. If Al Hassan Toure can recapture some early promise and quit arguing with the coach, and Joe Lolley can keep getting valuable minutes into his legs, it may make for some more Roar whimpering.

Melbourne derby time! City will have played a midweek ACL game but don’t have to travel. Victory will be fresher though, and don’t have the injury toll that City seem to carry with them like carry-on baggage after a Hong Kong shopping spree. They will be kicking themselves (and possibly their opponents) after dropping points to the Roar. Juan Mata will wield his baton and conduct the midfield again, which spells trouble for a City defence that has lost much of its invincibility.

The Mariners welcome Western Sydney to Gosford in the kind of form that belies the off-field woes surrounding the club. The Wanderers resembled deer in the headlights in the last 15 minutes of their game against Wellington, squandering a 2-0 lead to drop points. It must be hair-tearing stuff for coach Garry Van Egmond – he seems to fix up one end (the scoring) only for the defence to impersonate Swiss cheese. The breeze off Brisbane Water will blow favourably for the Mariners.

As their closest rivals falter, the Jets soar. They are re-writing records in Newcastle as the home side looks to win 8 in a row. The last side to beat them was  Sunday’s opponents Macarthur, in an outrageous 5-4 win on Boxing Day. With Mitch Duke slotting in nicely, the Bulls are premiership dark horses. But the Jets are in an irresistible vein of form. To misquote Daniel Day-Lewis, there will be goals. The Jets will score more.

Wednesday’s catch-up game comes on the back of Macarthur’s Asian Cup adventures. Fatigue might be a factor for both sets of players. The Bulls will have a day’s less rest but will be at home. The Mariners have shown a stubborn disinclination to succumb to defeat. A draw might satisfy both.

Texi Smith

Adelaide, Auckland, Sydney, Victory, Wanderers, Macarthur, Macarthur

We’ll never know the extent of the potential Perth Glory comeback without the sending off last weekend, but we know that Brian Kaltack’s suspension will hurt. Adelaide United played the waiting game and took advantage of a benevolent Sydney FC last weekend. This one should be tight, Ryan White giving another majestic performance to guide Adelaide to a one-goal win, Ben Folami off the bench to snatch the win with time running out.

The dominance of Auckland FC over their Kiwi rivals is absolute, both teams coming away with points from Sydney recently in vastly different circumstances. Wellington Phoenix have hope now that Sam Cosgrove is suspended, but Auckland are just too strong physically and can bully sides into submission. Whilst the Premiers were fortunate to get the point midweek, no one can deny that they have what it takes to record a second straight title, and Jesse Randall proves the difference, knocking in a goal in each half to send the JAFAs home with another three-point haul.

There’s only four points between third-placed Sydney FC and eighth-placed Brisbane Roar, although based upon form, they are both heading south. Pride round celebrations come to Allianz Stadium to distract the gloomy fans, but it fails to draw in the numbers and Brisbane feel right at home in a one-quarter full stadium. New boys Apostolos Stamatelopoulos and Ahmet Arslan have not exactly turned Sydney’s fortunes, but today they will click, Sydney surviving a second half comeback to hang on to a 3-2 win. Joe Lolley to star and Al Hassan Toure to run the ball into the corner to waste time in the 95^th minute to ironic cheers and huge smiles from the bench.

Yes! It’s Melbourne derby time, City are the home team, so the stadium will be less lively. Hit man Marcus Younis will be looking for another goal, under-pressure coach Aurelio Vidmar will shuffle his pack once again following the midweek exploits in Asian competition, and it will all fall flat as Victory take command from the opening whistle. Nikos Vergos has the opener, Clarismario Santas wows the crowd with a solo second just after the break and despite letting City rally towards the end, Victory’s defence is tight and Melbourne is navy blue.

Sunday afternoon sees Western Sydney Wanderers in Gosford, the battle to avoid the wooden spoon in the home team’s hands after two excellent wins. The week off has done the Mariners no favours though, and the quality finally shines through for Wanderers, racing into a two-goal lead, Hiroshi Ibusuki showing that his close control matches his heading prowess, and the visitors go on to thump the hosts 4-0. The Coast reclaim the bottom of the ladder position again with a performance that would have relegation written all over it, and no one is watching at the end due to a stupid clash with the Box Office Jets.

And so to McDonald Jones Stadium, for the match of the round. Mitch Duke shows no ill-effects from his injury and the toil of Asian Champions League 2 action, and proves a constant thorn for the visitors. In a bold move by Mile Sterjovski, with the Jets in full flow in a dominant second half, Harry Sawyer is thrown on as a second target man and the cat is put amongst the pigeons, Sime Grzan taking advantage of a knockdown to blast home for the only goal in a shock home reverse to end the run.

Catch-up time for the Bulls on Wednesday too. A whisper-quiet Campbelltown Stadium enjoys a thoroughly entertaining game between the basement club Central Coast Mariners and a team that’s knocking on the door at the summit. Ali Auglah stars, he and Storm Roux amongst the goals in a four-goal first half, before Macarthur FC finally turn the screw and propel themselves up to within striking distance of the top of the table. Chris Ikonomidis amongst the goals and Anthony Caceres as smooth as silk in midfield. Is this the year of the Bull?

The tipsters blotted their collective copy book last week tipping 1 from 15. Look how tight the scores are!

Just plug em in and make sure the Crowd wins …

Good luck this week! The comment section is working, drop us a line below and let us know that you’re still there. See you next week in some shape or form, somewhere on the world wide web.