Thursday night A-League comes to us from the Sunshine State as the Roar once again face the unenviable prospect of a maiden wooden spoon.
John Aloisi won’t be in the mood to offer any favours for his former side though, with his current employers still a mathematical chance of winning the premiership and a strong chance of a top two finish.
With three games remaining, any positive result here would lock up a finals berth and a win would put the pressure on Melbourne City.
The visitors should win this game, it’s just a question of by how much and based off Brisbane’s leaky defence, it could get very ugly very quickly.
BEST: Western United to Win $1.95 | VALUE: Western United to Win -2 Goals $5.75
Playing solely for pride at this stage, Wellington can heap more misery on Adelaide whose last month has been nothing short of atrocious.
The one-time title contenders lost their fourth straight game against then-last placed Perth getting blasted 4-1.
It was a troubling response to a week where it was announced that head coach Carl Veart would be moving on at the end of the year.
On the plus side, Adelaide’s matches have featured plenty of goals with an aggregate score of 10-17 on their losing streak.
There is a real temptation to back the Nix here, but with just one win in their last five, the over might be the better play given the way neither side can really defend all that well.
BEST: Over 3.5 Goals $2.00 | VALUE: Both Teams to Score in Both Halves $7.00
Auckland might be limping to the finish line with four draws and a win but they just keep finding ways to get something from matches.
Unbeaten in their last 12, they have been forced to settle for draws in five of their last six but there is still a lot to like about how they are travelling.
Similarly, the Victory have picked up 20 points of a possible 30 from their last ten matches and could finish anywhere from second to sixth depending on how the next few weeks go.
There really isn’t a lot between these sides, but I’m not willing to back Auckland to lose given their history and a low scoring draw could be on the cards.
BEST: Auckland Win/Draw Double $1.62 | VALUE: Draw and Under 2.5 Goals $4.40
Currently riding a three game winning streak, Melbourne City will head to CommBank Stadium looking to spend another week in the A-League’s top two.
They were pushed by Brisbane last week, but the fact they were able to find a late winner should give Aurelio Vidmar some comfort.
However Western Sydney have been one of the big surprises of the second half of the season, unbeaten in their last nine and are the form team in the competition at the moment.
While the recent history between these two sides favours the visitors, with the away team winning three of the last four, Western Sydney are just playing too well to back against.
BEST: Western Sydney to Win $2.50 | VALUE: Draw/Western Sydney HT/FT Double $ 6.00
Under normal circumstances, Sydney FC would be the only team to back in this fixture but this game could not have come at a worse time for them.
They have a far more pressing matter to attend to during the week with their ACL2 Semi Final second leg against Lion City Sailors, and regardless of how that one ends, more than a few players might miss this game as a result.
Admittedly they can’t really afford to punt this one in terms of the race for the A-League Finals, but these players are only capable of so much in a week and there is bound to be some sort of letdown.
Meanwhile Newcastle is coming off a resounding 6-0 win over the Mariners in their last outing and are still an outside chance of making the finals themselves.
Back them to get something from this game and extend their season for another week at least.
BEST: Newcastle Win/Draw Double $2.40 | VALUE: Newcastle to Win $5.00
Things cannot get much worse for the Mariners on the back of a horrific 6-0 loss to the Jets last weekend.
But they will likely have another rough go of it against Macarthur, who have scored 12 goals in their last three games.
Not only that, but the Bulls need to pick up some points in this match to keep their finals hopes alive.
And based on the differing trajectories of the two teams, they may well do that.
BEST: Macarthur to Win $2.35 | VALUE: Macarthur to Win -1 Goal $4.20
PREVIEW TO COME CLOSER TO KICKOFF