Second Legs
90 minutes away from a maiden A-League Grand Final appearance, Auckland is in prime position to eliminate Melbourne Victory in Saturday’s first match.
As expected, the first leg was a tense battle and the Victory certainly felt like they could have scored a goal or two, but won the match outright.
However the visitors face a massive uphill battle against a side that has lost just once in 13 home games.
Their defensive record is phenomenal, keeping six clean sheets and holding opponents to one goal another four times.
Look for another Corica coaching special as Auckland does enough to get themselves over the line in the match and tie, ensuring they will be back at Go Media Stadium in seven days time.
BEST: Auckland to Win $2.10 | VALUE: Auckland to Win and Under 2.5 Goals $5.00
First Legs
While you might think we’re heading back to Ironbark Fields to kick off the first weekend of Semi Final action in the A-League, instead United will be hosting City at AAMI Park.
John Aloisi’s side rode their luck against Adelaide, coming away with a nervy 3-2 victory win with Noah Botic playing a starring role.
Melbourne City have had a week to rest but it may work to their disadvantage, riding a six match unbeaten run prior to their bye.
History firmly favours City as well, winning the last four games between the clubs, but it is tough to ignore the potency of Western United in attack.
It might not be enough to get them to a Grand Final, but Western should be able to set up a lead to defend heading into the second leg.
BEST: Western United to Win $2.70 | VALUE: Melbourne City to Win and Over 3.5 Goals $5.00
Try as they might, the Victory just won’t go away with Daniel Arzarni starring in last week’s tense Elimination Final win in Western Sydney.
That has earned them a home date with the reigning premiers and we only have to look back 12 months to know this is the time of year where they are at their most dangerous.
On that occasion they faced an upstart Wellington Phoenix side, drawing the home leg 0-0 before drawing the second leg and winning the tie in extra time at the Caketin.
That strategy has worked for them and wanting to play in a tight, low scoring contest will give them the best chance of advancing beyond this stage.
Playing in that sort of game is perfectly fine by Auckland, they have done so superbly all season and will feel very confident of taking the second leg back at Go Media Stadium.
For both sides this first leg will be about damage limitation and the under looks like the way to go.
BEST: Under 2.5 Goals $2.10 | VALUE: Draw and Under 2.5 Goals $4.60