A-League tipping Round 21 : The race to the pub to watch the Matildas

When the AFC Women’s Asian Cup dates and times were announced, the APL quite rightly made room for the group stages so there would be no clashes with the Matildas action. They must have been expecting a swift elimination for Australia though, as this weekend sees the A-League go up against a major international football tournament and the most marketable brand in the country.

The Roar’s A-League tips and predictions continues through the turmoil at this temporary home, and after last week, the tipsters may want to take the raw unpredictability of this wonderful competition into account.

Share your thoughts, enter your tips in and let’s help The Crowd maintain their strong lead over the so-called in-house ‘experts’.

Stuart Thomas

Western Sydney, Wellington, Central Coast, Newcastle, Victory, Sydney

In bizzaro A-League world, all twelve teams can make the finals. The Wanderers improve their chances of doing so on the road against the Roar on Friday night. Wellington do the same with three points at home against the now struggling Glory.

Central Coast are hot and the clash with Adelaide is a dangerous one for the visitors. Another great effort from the men in yellow. You simply have to pick the Jets in current form and three points this week against Auckland all bar locks up the minor premiership.

Sunday’s match will see Victory stay in the hunt for a top four spot with a win over Macarthur and Sydney close out the round on Tuesday at home against Melbourne City. All three points to remain in the harbour city.

Andrew Prentice

Western Sydney, Draw, Central Coast, Newcastle, Victory, Sydney

Kids, once upon a time in an A League far, far away, the Roar and Wanderers played a classic grand final in front of a packed Suncorp Stadium. There won’t be a fairy tale for either side this year, even if technically both are still in with a chance of the play-offs. The Wanderers improvement under Garry Van Egmond stands in contrast to the Roar’s stagnation in the middle of the season. Ryan Fraser will be a difference maker on Friday.

Perth have probably enjoyed a week in the North Island while Wellington have had to travel. The Phoenix did well to draw with the Reds last week while Perth did even better to draw with Auckland. With that kind of form line, I’m not going to ignore the obvious. A draw it is.

The Mariners had the weekend off after trouncing Macarthur. Adelaide and the Central Coast struck up quite the rivalry a couple of years back and Gosford hasn’t been too hospitable to the Reds. Central Coast and Newcastle are the form teams of the competition and if the Mariners can welcome back some injury personnel they will continue to make life miserable for their opponents. Mariners by the odd goal.

A massive clash in the chase for the Premier’s Plate. 1^st v 2^nd and hopefully a big Novocastrian crowd to urge on the hosts. The Jets are chockful of attacking flyers and Auckland’s league-best defence is going to feel the heat at Broadmeadow. Jesse Randall chose last week to go quiet as I elevated him to captain of my fantasy team so I’ll do the Jets a favour and keep him there. There will be goals. Jets to win.

Macarthur have scored 25 goals this season and 11 of them came in two games. That means they’ve scraped together a miserable 14 in their other 18 games. They stunk out the joint in their last match and if there isn’t a very rapid finding of the back of the net (we’re looking at you, Mitch) then they will get swept aside by Victory. Juan Mata is like an orchestra conductor, effortlessly moving the team and himself around the pitch and most likely right to the top of the Warren Medal list. Victory to win.

Sydney and City round out the action on Tuesday night, presumably to avoid Women’s Asian Cup action. It looks as if City have decided all the eggs are in the ACL basket (the league not the knee injury). You have to go back to Round 13 to find a win for them. Sydney matched it with Victory in the Big Blue and Apostolos Stamatelopoulos cracked it for a maiden goal for the club. Might be case of once you crack the seal for the transfer window pick-up. Sydney to win.

Texi Smith

Wanderers, Wellington, Adelaide, Auckland, Victory, Sydney

Suncorp Stadium, the theatre of dreams, the cavern of mediocrity for the Roar, tonight’s game will attract another meagre attendance as the national women’s team takes centre stage moments after the final whistle. The Wanderers’ team is packed with quality and they are starting to put it together; Bozhidar Kraev scores either side of half time with Kosta Barbarouses and Hiroshi Ibusuki completing a rout in another four-goal away win for the bottom club, Nick D’Agositino wondering what he has done to his World Cup chances in a side not yet benefitting from their new Vibe Manager.

Perth Glory had a grand day in Auckland last week, Stefan Colakovski made some new friends and the reigning premiers saw their crown slip even further. Alex Rufer should return, and his side will have their backs to the wall for most of the first half as Nicolas Pennington looks to get one over his former employers. Glory have plenty of attacking intent, Jaiden Kucharski starting, but the longer they go, the more Phoenix come into the game and lo-and-behold Corban Piper races through to clip in a delightful winner for the struggling home team.

It is quite inconceivable that Adelaide United and Central Coast Mariners could be playing finals football at the end of the season, but here we are. The club that everyone had written off this season, the Mariners have astounded the critics with a run of results that defies logic. The Reds have been unpredictable but tonight they will enjoy a big performance, Brody Burkitt is thrust into the team, and has only scored in one game, but he’s back in the goals tonight as the Mariners draw a blank, Ali Auglah’s penalty miss opening the way for a 2-0 win to the visitors to keep their push for the premiership alive.

Proper box office entertainment at McDonald Jones Stadium on Saturday afternoon sees Auckland FC arrive in Newcastle smarting from their draw with Perth Glory. A bumper crowd peel away from China vs Chinese Taipei to watch the home side given a footballing lesson, as Steve Corica exacts revenge against his bogey side for the two home reverses earlier this season. Sam Cosgrove at the double and Logan Rogerson with two fine goals as the Jets are bullied into submission by a far more physical opponent. The title race is alive and everyone gets to watch South Korea v Uzbekistan afterwards.

Macarthur FC’s tumble out of the top six is alarming, and weakened further by suspension, their trip to Melbourne Victory for an unusual Sunday evening fixture is completely fruitless. This is the sort of fixture that the Bulls would normally excel in – given no chance, playing away from home at an obscure time, they would often come away with a totally unexpected result. Not tonight though, and Victory continue their meteoric rise, Charles Nduka in the goals in a thoroughly entertaining 2-1 win to continue the resurgence.

The AFC dream is over for Melbourne City, and like many before them, their marketing department has to rally the fans into believing that the top six is still within reach and that every game is the biggest match of the season, especially a Tuesday night before a potential Matildas semi-final. Sydney FC should have won against City’s cross-town rivals last week, but their position in the table still seems false, as it has done all season. The brand of football is remarkably similar to the latter part of the Corica era, and with Joe Lolley no longer available, the two big unnecessary imports will have to carry the load. In the end, an uninspiring first half dirge transforms into a fast-flowing second half that defies all the odds, Sydney’s Al Hassan Toure and Tiago Quintal on the scoresheet in a 3-2 win.

Our tipsters have been useless this season, but to be fair there are not many other people tipping with confidence :

Your tips for the week are requested below. Take five seconds and do it, and help the Crowd maintain daylight over the tipsters …

Best of luck with your tips! Drop us a comment below, close your eyes and pretend your on The Roar website. The AFC Women’s Asian Cup takes precedence, but it’s good to have the A-League to give us the unpredictability we crave.