Examining the Entrails, Round 20
After a very unpredictable round, the scores so far:
Jacob: 30
John: 30
Tony: 29
Hamish: 29
Drsimmo: 28
Dave: 26
My Tips:
Central Coast Mariners FC vs New Zealand Knights FC
Knights 0:2
Melbourne Victory FC vs Queensland Roar FC
Queensland 0:1
Adelaide United FC vs Sydney FC
Draw 1:1
Perth Glory FC vs Newcastle Jets FC
Newcastle 1:2
Jacob's Tips:
Central Coast Mariners FC vs New Zealand Knights FC
Draw 1:1
Melbourne Victory FC vs Queensland Roar FC
Melbourne 2:0
Adelaide United FC vs Sydney FC
Adelaide 1:0
Perth Glory FC vs Newcastle Jets FC
Newcastle 0:2
And finally:
With hand on heart, Dear Infinite Most Ineffable, please grant all the A-League fans some great football entertainment this weekend, may the best teams win, may there be good sportsmanship on and off the field from both players and fans, and may there be no serious injuries. Amen.
Jacob: 30
John: 30
Tony: 29
Hamish: 29
Drsimmo: 28
Dave: 26
My Tips:
Central Coast Mariners FC vs New Zealand Knights FC
Knights 0:2
Melbourne Victory FC vs Queensland Roar FC
Queensland 0:1
Adelaide United FC vs Sydney FC
Draw 1:1
Perth Glory FC vs Newcastle Jets FC
Newcastle 1:2
Jacob's Tips:
Central Coast Mariners FC vs New Zealand Knights FC
Draw 1:1
Melbourne Victory FC vs Queensland Roar FC
Melbourne 2:0
Adelaide United FC vs Sydney FC
Adelaide 1:0
Perth Glory FC vs Newcastle Jets FC
Newcastle 0:2
And finally:
With hand on heart, Dear Infinite Most Ineffable, please grant all the A-League fans some great football entertainment this weekend, may the best teams win, may there be good sportsmanship on and off the field from both players and fans, and may there be no serious injuries. Amen.
Labels: Tipping
posted by Hamish Alcorn at 3:20 am
6 Comments:
They're not tips Hamish, they're hopes. Having said that, Jacob the pragmatist is only one point ahead of you, and as you noted yesterday, a fool makes the cake, the analyst eats it. Or something like that.
Man, these Thursday night games throw my week out... Anyhow, here we go.
Mariners 0 v Knights 1
The Knights have really turned things around under their new coach and will have a heap of confidence, but can they sustain the momentum? The Coast boys on the other hand will be looking for momentum after their attack failed to find the net against Newcastle. With the importance of this game, CCM coaching staff will be poring over the replay of NZ v SFC; which might be enough for the rather toothless Mariners to earn a point. Still, confidence counts for a lot in football and I think the Coast's season will end here.
Victory 0 Roar 1
With first spot sewn up, I suspect the minds of the Victory players will be elsewhere on Friday night. While they're bringing their big names back, I suspect they'll treat it more as a training run than a serious contest. I even suspect Ernie Merrick wouldn't mind taking a loss here, in order to give his players a bit of a reality check going into the finals. For the Roar, they simply must win; and I think they'll probably "win ugly" as they did vs Adelaide last week.
Reds 1 v Bling 2
With their points deduction and a loss to NZ last week, Sydney's grasp on a top 2 (or even top 4) spot is looking decidedly shaky; and you can say the same for Adelaide who were disappointing vs Qld. Both will be going for the jugular here, and as if their past history wasn't enough, I think things could get pretty testy. Sydney however seem mentally tougher.
Glory 1 Jets 1
Depending on what happens in Melbourne, the Jets might have a golden opportunity to seal a finals spot here. Perth have been lacklustre at best, but showed at least some fight against Melbourne before crumbling late (again!). That said, Newcastle looked pretty pedestrian at times against CCM and their win came courtesy of one instance of sloppy defending. I'm not expecting this one to reach any great heights.
Best of luck everyone.
Central Coast Mariners FC vs New Zealand Knights FC
CCM 1:0
Melbourne Victory FC vs Queensland Roar FC
Queensland 0:1
Frank has a full squad outside the goal mouth. The question is will he play Reinaldo (Hey Nal Do). Does performance get rewarded? Last week Frank didn't go to the bench - he said the team on the park were doing the job - from my seat it looked like lack of confidence. Too bad I would have liked to see more of Wedau. Still as Frank himself said when he was Socceroo coach - coaches get less respect than players.
Adelaide United FC vs Sydney FC
Adelaide 1:0
Burnie pays off
Perth Glory FC vs Newcastle Jets FC
Newcastle 1:0
Milton too strong
Rightio then, after last week's shocker, here are my tips:
Central Coast v NZ: Draw 1-1
This is really a game of desparation versus confidence. I'd kind of like NZ to win, but I reckon things might even themselves out, especially since CCM has (more) injury problems.
Melbourne v Queensland: Melbourne 2-1
Queensland might be in it for a while, but Melbourne have played their reserves and still done okay, drawing with 10 men.
Adelaide v Sydney: Sydney 1-2
More hope than anything, but I reckon last week's shock may have woken up some of Sydney's players. Both teams need a win really, but as dave said, Sydney are mentally tougher, and should prevail.
Perth v Newcastle: Draw 1-1
Perth at home are always a bit tougher and they're playing for pride now, since there's a chance they could still grab the wooden spoon. Newcastle may well dominate, but they often have trouble finding the back of the net.
Back for more punishment;
CCM 1 v NZK 0; Knights have been at the Ettalong Beach Resort all week, possibly enjoying the sunshine too much. CCM are due big time, surely they won't lose 4 on the trot?????
MV 3 v QR 1; it's party time in Melb. Their 300,000th visitor for the season, the league's 1 millionth and 4 guns back on deck. The Roar defence is in trouble.
AU 1 v SFC 2; if United's Diego is half as good as the Werder Bremen version, then we're in for a treat. Surely AU cant go another game without a goal, but Syd also pack some punch and lift for the big stuff, and that should be enough.
PG 1 v NJ 2; so much at stake for the Jets. van Egmond has done much for the mental side of their game, and they'll appreciate a decent surface, but Perth will bomb forward early, trying to send off Bobby in style
well now that mine have gone, may all your dreams come true folks..here's to gripping entertainment!
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