Queensland Roar v Perth Glory
I can actually see a decent bet here and I may well be tempted to make this my first proper bet of the A-League season.
Queensland had a very average set of results leading upto the start of the season, a perfectly symetrical 1-4-1 (4-4) being the result of their 6 pre-season games. The pre-season cup, according to coach Miron Bleiberg, was not about who won or lost but about building a team unit which is difficult to break down at the back, but which also has the potential to push forward and attack. In my opinion, he's done just that over this last few weeks, the Roar being drilled to be a solid defensive unit before he's worked on his attacking option. The addition of attacking players
Simon Lynch and
Ante Milcic should complement the already wonderful Reinaldo and promising youngster Dario Vidosic.
Perth Glory face all sorts of trouble coming into this game. A dire pre-season wasn't helped by the continual absences of key players each week through injury and suspension. Perth never managed to get anything near a first team squad together for any of their matches and still face the prospect of missing first team players, players returning from injury who are not yet match fit and a squad who haven't had the chance to gel as a unit.
Important midfielder
Simon Colosimo comes back into the squad after knee ligament damage, having only managed a full 22 minutes of first team action during the summer, while fellow midfielders David Micevski and Adrian Webster are respectively recovering from the flu and a hamstring problem. Last seasons leading scorer, Bobby Despotovski, is injured so vetran Englishman
Stuart Young will probably start up front, with either Naum Sekulovski (who usually plays left wing) or more likely 22 year old debutant Mislav Saric. Defenders Ryan Townsend and Jamie Coyne are also unfit, leaving the backline severely limited in choices.
I'm definitely going to be on Queensland here. Perth coach Ron Smith has even acknowledged that his team haven't had the greatest of pre-season preperations, while Queensland have been progressing very well, building a team that are hard to beat and can score goals.
Bet: 2 points on
Queensland to win @ 2.10
