Aust. A-League
2013-01-26 - Melbourne Victory vs Sydney FC
A Sports Betting Pick by DownUnder
Football : Australia : A-League
Venue: AAMI Park, Melbourne
Saturday, January 26, 2013 – Kickoff 5:30pm (AEDT), 05:30 GMT
Season Form:
Past five matches :
Melbourne Victory: WDWLW
Sydney FC ::::::::: WWDLW
Melbourne Victory :
Home - Played 9 5-3-1 (16:11)
Sydney FC :
Away - Played 8 2-1-5 (10:21)
Melbourne Victory (3rd )
Melbourne verses Sydney always gets a crowd, but with Melbourne having more Italian descendants than any other Australian city, they will come out in numbers to witness their Italian legend Alessandro Del Piero who is in sensation form.
The Victory have a full settled squad, and Coach Ange Postecoglou’s only decision is who will make way in the midfield for the return of Billy Celeski, back from suspension.
Defender Nick Ansell is probably going to be given another week to recover from his groin strain, but with the Victory leaking 27 goals this season, you just get the impression they don’t care too much about defensive duties preferring to concentrate on scoring instead.
If all eyes are going to be on Del Peiro for Sydney, the same can be said about Marco Rojas for the Victory. It is reported that talent scouts from Liverpool and Juventus clubs have flown out to see him play in this fixture. That’s a lot of pressure on the young New Zealander, and lets hope he shines today.
Sydney United FC (7th)
Sydney had a morale boosting 7-1 home win last week, with much being lauded about the new partnership formed between Del Peiro and Griffiths.
The Phoenix paid the price for giving Del Peiro too much time on the ball and allowed him to show his class. He set up goals with superb through balls that split the defence, and grabbed 4 goals himself; it was truly a great display by a master.
Don’t think for a minute that he will be afforded the same amount of space this time round, I would expect he’ll be man marked by the Victory, possibly by Mulligan.
Coach Frank Farina will be making sure that the players don’t get too carried away with that result, incredibly in that match with a half time score of 5-nil to Sydney, the Phoenix had more shots on target.
There are 10 games to go before the semi-finals and realistically Sydney’s only hope of making them is to grind out results and clinch 6th spot. With their new found confidence perhaps they might get something out of this one.
Head to Head
Played: 25
Wins: Victory 8, Sydney 6,
Draws: 11
Previous encounter
Sydney FC 2-3 Melbourne Victory, November 10, 2012
The Betting Verdict
This game is in front of a sell-out crowd, and there is every promise they are going to be entertained, I am tending for a Victory home win, but what I what I am certain of is there will be goals. The question is how many?
If Melbourne are gifted the same number of chances that the Phoenix had last week, expect them to score plenty. And we all know Melbourne’s philosophy is the same as Brazil, we don’t care if you score, we’ll score one more than you.
The Pick :
Melbourne Victory 3 v 2 Sydney FC
BEST BETTING TIP :
Shrimp on the Barbie (main bet)Take over 3.5 goals @ $2.50 at Paddy Power
and if you want some chilli garlic with that (small bet)
Consider over 4.5 goals at $4.50 at Paddy Power
