Australian A League Round 13 Wrap Up & Stats

[Beejayville]

Weekend Wrap Melbourne Victory has now jumped out to a massive 12 points, the biggest ever lead in the Hyundai A-League, after another interesting weekend of action. The battles for second and fourth spots has become very tight and sets up for a thrilling last eight rounds of the home and away season. Yesterday’s blockbuster at Aussie Stadium, saw Sydney prevail over Adelaide again, while the Central Coast and Perth made sure they remain in finals contention with well earned victories. Melbourne made sure Frank Farina’s debut as coach of Queensland ended on a miserable note, with a 2-0 win. Game Wraps Queensland Roar 0 lost MELBOURNE VICTORY 2 Queensland Roar fans were hoping that new coach Frank Farina could inspire their team to a win that would hopefully resurrect their season, but two defensive blunders saw Melbourne come away with the three points. The first error came when Andrew Packer failed to notice Liam Reddy coming out for a Fred through ball and the former Sydney FC defender poked the ball past Reddy and into an empty net after ?? minutes. However Queensland had hope at half time, but within 60 seconds of the restart that hope was all but dashed when a long ball from Simon Storey eluded Josh McCloughan and then bounced over Sasha Ognenovski, allowing Archie Thompson to run in and lob over a stranded Reddy. Queensland tried to come back into it, but found the Melbourne defence in form with the closest they came to scoring when a deflected shot by Stu McLaren hit the post and came back out for a grateful Eugene Galekovic. PERTH GLORY 2 bt Newcastle Jets 1 Luka Glavas came off the bench to give Perth Glory an astonishing 2-1 win over Newcastle Jets at Members Equity Stadium and keep their finals hopes alive. Defeat would almost certainly have ended any chance of them playing in the finals, but Glavas’ last kick of the game goal, saw them rise to just two points behind the Jets, Roar and the Mariners, who are level in fourth spot. Perth started well with captain Jamie Harnwell playing as a striker for the first time in his career and the move paid off when he headed home a first half goal. The goal was richly deserved and after the break they had numerous chances to extend the lead and were made to pay when Newcastle were awarded a penalty that Nick Carle blasted home. But with Newcastle looking the more likely to grab a winner, Bertos set up Glavas and he calmly stroked his shot past Kennedy for a deserved three points. New Zealand Knights 0 lost CENTRAL COAST MARINERS 2 The New Zealand Knights fans were also hoping that a change of coach might inspire the team back to winning ways, but like Queensland succumbed 2-0 at home against Central Coast Mariners. The Knights would have been encouraged by the first half with a number of chances to score, although John Hutchinson from the Mariners would have been kicking himself after getting his shot horribly wrong when clean through on goal. No matter as he set up Damian Mori for the opening goal in the second half, Australia’s greatest goalscorer showing his younger counterpart how it done with a good finish. Nik Mrdja made it two in injury time with a terrific strike from a 20-metre free kick. SYDNEY FC 2 bt Adelaide United 1 Arch rivals Sydney and Adelaide turned on a classic, tough clash at Aussie Stadium, with the home side continuing its dominance over its southern rivals with a 2-1 win. Adelaide shocked the home side with an early goal to captain Ross Aloisi, who capitalised on terrific work by Jason Spagunolo. But it didn’t take long for Sydney to hit back when they received a penalty for a handball by Michael Valkanis, with Ufuk Talay making no mistake from the spot. Shortly after an inspired Sydney took the lead when Mark Rudan pounced after Robert Bajic could only parry a Steve Corica shot. The match came to life in the second half as the niggle, so prominent in other clashes between these teams, returned with Sydney hanging on for a big win. Highlights Luka Glavas’ last minute winner made it a memorable day for the Perth Glory fans, who have had to watch their team for the past month on the box, with four away games in a row. The return of Lazaridis and Colosimo made a big difference and Perth fans will now be looking for another big win next week against the hapless Knights. Goal of the Week The Hyundai A-League has proved very frustrating for Central Coast’s Nik Mrdja, who prior to the inaugural season was the form player. But a knee injury saw him miss 16 months of football and since making his comeback three matches ago has slowly worked his way back. Against the Knights, he scored his first A-League goal with a thunderous strike from a free kick, which could well spark a hot run for the striker in the last eight weeks of the season. Player of the Week It has been a tough run for the boys from the west. Racked by injuries to key players, a horrendous month on the road, Perth welcomed a match at home and several of its senior players. Through the tough period, captain Jamie Harnwell has led the team superbly and when coach Ron Smith asked him to play in the totally foreign role of striker, he didn’t bat an eyelid. Typical Harnwell he accepted it was for the team and in true style he repaid the coaches faith by grabbing a goal and running his heart out, before getting a well-earned break with 15 to go. Ironically it was his replacement Luka Glavas that stole all the headlines with his last kick of the game winner. One to Watch Tommi Tomich has bided his time as a goalkeeper in Australia and is making the best of his opportunities at the present moment with Perth. In as a replacement for the injured Jason Petkovic, he came in for the match against Melbourne Victory and held them to one goal and was again looking impenetrable on Saturday, until Nick Carle blasted a penalty past him. Might be a key to their finals chances in the remaining eight rounds.

[Beejayville]

Re: Australian A League Wrap Up & Stats A League Ladder after Round 13

Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1. Melbourne Victory FC	13	11	1	1	29	9	20	34
2. Adelaide United FC	13	7	1	5	23	17	6	22
3. Sydney FC	13	5	5	3	22	16	6	20
4. Queensland Roar FC	13	4	4	5	16	14	2	16
5. CentralCoast Mariners FC	13	4	4	5	15	17	-2	16
6. Newcastle Jets FC	13	4	4	5	17	21	-4	16
7. Perth Glory FC	13	4	2	7	15	19	-4	14
8. New Zealand Knights FC	13	2	1	10	4	28	-24	7

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Re: Australian A League Wrap Up & Stats Be interesting to see how Melbourne go this week. They host Newcastle this Sunday at Telstra Dome but the interesting thing will be to see the depth of their squad. They have nine players from their first 11 who could be out injured. They arent major injuries, just a bunch of knocks and a broken noses etc, but certainly something to keep an eye on. Watch this space

[Beejayville]

Re: Australian A League Wrap Up & Stats Spot on Ads as the Melbourne Victory depth will be tested this week. This season they have only had the occasional suspension and minor injury during its domination of the A-League, but the Victory's depth of talent could be sternly tested on Sunday. After limping away from Brisbane with a 2-0 win against the Queensland Roar on Friday night, the Victory coaching staff was yesterday still assessing the eight-man casualty list to see who will be available to play Newcastle Jets at Telstra Dome. While it is expected most of the eight injured players will come up after corks and hard knocks, there is most concern on captain and midfield playmaker Kevin Muscat (knee), attacking Brazilian Fred (lower leg) and defender Daniel Piorkowski (hamstring). X-rays have cleared Fred, sandwiched in a challenge and substituted at halftime, of a broken leg but he needed crutches to get around. Muscat will have an MRI scan today to check the exact nature of his knee worry and Piorkowski will be closely monitored. That leaves Archie Thompson (corky), Simon Storey (corky), Steve Pantelidis (broken nose), Grant Brebner (head stitches) and Danny Allsopp (ankle sprain) as likely to play against the Jets. Friday night's substitutes, Kristian Sarkies, Alessandro and Michael Ferrante, are in line for promotion in place of the injured trio. The ability of the back-ups to perform under pressure was exemplified by goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic, who kept a clean sheet against the Roar in place of injured Michael Theoklitos. Playing his first A-League game for a year, Galekovic was impressive with his handling. He made several good saves and quite an impression on Merrick. Galekovic will probably head back to the bench if Theoklitos overcomes a minor back strain in what might be one of the few straightforward selection posers Merrick and staff face this week.

[Beejayville]

Re: Australian A League Wrap Up & Stats A League Home and Away Ladders HOME

		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Avg_Pts
1	Melbourne Vict	7	5	1	1	14	7	7	16	2.29
2	Adelaide Utd	6	5	0	1	19	10	9	15	2.50
3	Sydney FC	7	3	3	1	12	7	5	12	1.71
4	Perth Glory	6	3	1	2	8	6	2	10	1.67
5	Newcastle Jets	7	3	1	3	11	11	0	10	1.43
6	Queensland Roar	7	2	2	3	9	5	4	8	1.14
7	CC Mariners	4	2	2	0	6	3	3	8	2.00
8	NZ Knights	8	2	1	5	2	11	-9	7	0.88

It should be worth noting that Central Coast Mariners are undefeated at home and due to a quirk in the draw, they play seven of their last eight games at home, including the next 5 rounds, and that has to be a huge advantage with no traveling whatsoever between Rounds 14-18. One would expect the favourable draw to result in a climb up the ladder for the Mariners over the last 8 Rounds.

Melbourne and Adelaide are still the top two home teams but Sydney and CCM are not far behind them. The four teams all average over 2 points plus when playing at home.

AWAY

		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Avg_Pts
1	Melbourne Vict	6	6	0	0	15	2	13	18	3.00
2	Sydney FC	6	2	2	2	10	9	1	8	1.33
3	Queensland Roar	6	2	2	2	7	9	-2	8	1.33
4	CC Mariners	9	2	2	5	9	14	-5	8	0.89
5	Adelaide Utd	7	2	1	4	4	7	-3	7	1.00
6	Newcastle Jets	6	1	3	2	6	10	-4	6	1.00
7	Perth Glory	7	1	1	5	7	13	-6	4	0.57
8	NZ Knights	5	0	0	5	2	17	-15	0	0.00

Melbourne have been sensational away with an unbeaten run of six games. Sydney and Queensland are the only other two teams to average more than a point away from home. Perth and the Knights away form is fairly poor. Only two teams have a positive For and Against goal difference when playing away, and that is Melbourne and Sydney. Adelaide has still only scored 4 goals away this season, and that figure will need to improve.

[Beejayville]

Re: Australian A League Wrap Up & Stats Next Weeks Round 14 Matches

Friday 24 Nov
Sydney	Vs	Queensland Roar	8.00 PM	Aussie Stadium
Saturday 25 Nov
Central Coast Mariners	Vs	Adelaide United	7.00 PM	Bluetongue Stadium
Sunday 26 Nov
Perth Glory	Vs	New Zealand Knights	4.00 PM	Members Equity Stadium
Melbourne Victory	Vs	Newcastle Jets	5.00 PM	Telstra Dome

[Beejayville]

Re: Australian A League Wrap Up & Stats Early thoughts for Round 14

Sydney vs Queensland These two teams are fairly even in head to head stats and the Roar doesn’t seem to hold any fears when playing Sydney. The home team here will have to start favourite here after they way they played against Adelaide yesterday. Carney back in the team gives Sydney a fair bit of impetus heading into the last 8 rounds.

Mariners vs Adelaide Utd Adelaide’s poor away record gives the Mariners a good chance of an upset here, however they haven’t beaten Adelaide the last four times they played, but have had 2 draws. Tough one to call at this stage.

Perth vs Knights Perth have won their last four against the Knights, and considering the away team has not scored a solitary point on the road this season I would expect an easy win for Perth here.

Melbourne vs Jets Melbourne have only scored 3 goals against the Jets in their last four meetings and that’s a cause of concern for Melbourne, particularly with their list decimated with injuries from the weekend game against the Roar. The Jets have beaten Melbourne once and had two draws in their last four games against the Victory, and that includes 2 clean sheets. there may be some value on the Jets this week, but they would want to play a bit better than they did against Perth. This week is a great time for a side to play Melbourne as they have many players with minor injuries.

[Beejayville]

Re: Australian A League Wrap Up & Stats After getting two scorelines up at the weekend I thought I would go back and total all the scoreline tips I have given out to see what kind of strike rate I have been getting. I am happy to say that I have a 33% strike rate with my scoreline tips and they have produced 7 winners from 21 at the average odds of $8.40. In total there have been 21 scoreline tips handed out which resulted in a 38 unit profit overall

Now I know scoreline bets are more for fun, or an interest on a game due to the high odds on offer, but after analyzing my scoreline figures I may have to pay them some more attention. I don't take scorelines in every game, only those where i think it might be a chance on past form.

Below is a table of the scoreline tips that I have placed in the forum during the A League season to date. Occasionally I have taken multiple scoreline tips for a game and they are bolded, and I have included the actual result for the game that was played.

Team	Predicted Scoreline	Result	Actual Result	Price
Melbourne	2-0		0-1
Queensland	2-1	WON	2-1	9.5
Mariners	2-1	WON	2-1	8.5
Queensland	2-1	WON	2-1	7.5
Melbourne	2-0		4-0
Melbourne	3-0		4-0
Adelaide	2-1		1-2
Roar/Mariners	0-0		1-1
Roar/Mariners	1-1	WON	1-1	8.5
Sydney	1-0		1-1
Sydney	2-0		1-1
Melbourne	1-0		3-0
Melbourne	2-0		3-0
Newcastle	2-1		1-1
Jets/Sydney	1-1	WON	1-1	7.5
Melbourne	2-0	WON	2-0	8.0
Sydney	2-0		4-0
Sydney	3-0		4-0
Jets/Mariners	1-1		3-1
Newcastle	2-1		1-2
Sydney	2-1	WON	2-1	9.5
			21	59

Outlay: 21 units

Return: 59 units

Profit: + 38 units

Bets: 21

Wins: 7

StrikeRate: 33%

[Beejayville]

Re: Australian A League Wrap Up & Stats A League Top Goal Scorers after Round 13

	Player	Team	Total
1	D Allsopp	Melbourne Vict	8
2	A Thompson	Melbourne Vict	7
3	D Mori	CC Mariners	6
4	K Muscat	Melbourne Vict	6
5	S Young	Perth Glory	5
6	S Petrovski	Sydney FC	4
7	M Rodriguez	Newcastle Jets	4
8	C Veart	Adelaide Utd	4
9	D Zdrilic	Sydney FC	4
10	M Bridge	Newcastle Jets	3
	N Burns	Adelaide Utd	3
	N Carle	Newcastle Jets	3
	T Dodd	Adelaide Utd	3
	S Lynch	Queensland Roar	3
	A Milicic	Queensland Roar	3
	F Rech	Adelaide Utd	3
	Reinaldo	Queensland Roar	3

[davidmphill]

Re: Australian A League Wrap Up & Stats Impressive stuff as ever BeeJay. Still can't get my head round Muscat being in the top scorers list, surely thats the disciplinary one!:eek

[koi_saisei]

Re: Australian A League Wrap Up & Stats I imagine carle will start moving up that list.

[Beejayville]

Re: Australian A League Wrap Up & Stats Analysis of each Team’s Goal Scorers

Player	Team	Total	%
Veart Carl	Adelaide Utd	4	19
Burns Nathan	Adelaide Utd	3	14
Dodd Travis	Adelaide Utd	3	14
Rech Fernando	Adelaide Utd	3	14
Owens Greg	Adelaide Utd	2	10
Aloisi Ross	Adelaide Utd	1	5
Cornthwaite Robert	Adelaide Utd	1	5
Kemp Matthew	Adelaide Utd	1	5
Petta Bobby	Adelaide Utd	1	5
Qu Shengqing	Adelaide Utd	1	5
Rees Kristian	Adelaide Utd	1	5

Adelaide has a good spread of goal scorers and could reasonably expect to cover a multiple goal kicker that may be missing from a game.

Player	Team	Total	%
Mori Damian	CC Mariners	6	40
Kwasnik Adam	CC Mariners	2	13
Pondeljak Tom	CC Mariners	2	13
Hutchinson John	CC Mariners	1	7
McMaster Jamie	CC Mariners	1	7
Mrdja Nick	CC Mariners	1	7
OGrady Paul	CC Mariners	1	7
Petrie Stewart	CC Mariners	1	7

No coincidence that the Mariners climb up the table coincides with Damian Mori coming into the side. He has scored 40% of their goals and if he is ever missing then the Mariners will be only at 60% goal scoring strength.

Player	Team	Total	%
Allsopp Daniel	Melbourne	8	30
Thompson Archie	Melbourne	7	26
Muscat Kevin	Melbourne	6	22
Caceres Adrian	Melbourne	2	7
Fred	Melbourne	2	7
Brebner Grant	Melbourne	1	4
Claudinho	Melbourne	1	4

Melbourne are heavily supported goal wise by Allsop, Thompson and Muscat, and if any 2 of these players were missing at the one time then Melbourne would not be as potent up front.

Player	Team	Total	%
Rodriguez Milton	Newcastle	4	25
Bridge Mark	Newcastle	3	19
Carle Nick	Newcastle	3	19
Coveny Vaughan	Newcastle	2	13
Brown Tim	Newcastle	1	6
Griffiths Joel	Newcastle	1	6
Musialik Stuart	Newcastle	1	6
North Jade	Newcastle	1	6

Newcastle Jets also have an even spread of goal scorers with Milton Rodriguez the best of them.

Player	Team	Total	%
Buari Malik	NZ Knights	1	50
Hickey Noah	NZ Knights	1	50

New Zealand Knights, what can you say?

Player	Team	Total	%
Young Stuart	Perth Glory	5	33
Despotovski Bobby	Perth Glory	2	13
Glavas Luka	Perth Glory	2	13
Harnwell Jamie	Perth Glory	2	13
Colosimo Simon	Perth Glory	1	7
Coyne Jamie	Perth Glory	1	7
Saric Mimi	Perth Glory	1	7
Tarka David	Perth Glory	1	7

Perth Glory rely on Stuart Young who has scored 33% of their goals, and if he is missing from the team then Perth lose some potency up forward.

Player	Team	Total	%
Lynch Simon	Queensland	3	20
Milicic Ante	Queensland	3	20
Reinaldo	Queensland	3	20
McKay Matt	Queensland	2	13
Vidosic Dario	Queensland	2	13
Dilevski Spase	Queensland	1	7
McLaren Stuart	Queensland	1	7

Queensland also have an even spread of goal scorers but they haven’t scored many goals of late.

Player	Team	Total	%
Petrovski Sasho	Sydney FC	4	20
Zdrilic David	Sydney FC	4	20
Carbone Benito	Sydney FC	2	10
Corica Steve	Sydney FC	2	10
Fyfe Iain	Sydney FC	2	10
Rudan Mark	Sydney FC	2	10
Carney David	Sydney FC	1	5
Ceccoli Alvin	Sydney FC	1	5
Talay Ufuk	Sydney FC	1	5
Zadkovich Ruben	Sydney FC	1	5

Sydney too have a multitude of players who can score goals and now that Carney is back I expect him to add a few more to the goal scoring table.

[Beejayville]

Re: Australian A League Wrap Up & Stats

Impressive stuff as ever BeeJay. Still can't get my head round Muscat being in the top scorers list, surely thats the disciplinary one!:eek

It's because he takes the penalties for Melbourne that's why Dave. I think he has scored 5 or 6 from penalties.

[Beejayville]

Re: Australian A League Wrap Up & Stats Romario ready for the Hyundai A-League Romario has arrived in Adelaide to begin his four match stint with Adelaide United FC. The Brazilian superstar touched down at Adelaide Airport and was greeted by Adelaide United FC CEO Michael Petrillo and a swarm of local media. Since his week long visit to Adelaide a month ago with Miami FC, Romario has been preparing himself to compete in the Hyundai A-League, and after four weeks of solid training, he is delighted to be back and believes he is ready to go. “I am very happy to be here again in Adelaide. I have followed the team and its progress. I just hope to do my best here,” Romario said. “I’m fit and I have been working very hard with my training coach and I hope to help create goals.” The 1994 World Player of the Year and World Cup winner is looking forward to his time in Adelaide, and hopes that his visit is beneficial for both parties and that he can contribute to the team being successful. “I’m focusing on scoring goals here and to help the team win and close the gap on Melbourne. I’m focusing on playing the four games, it is very important for me. I hope it will be nice for me and nice for Adelaide.” Romario will join his new teammates at training tomorrow and is hoping to play 90 minutes when he takes his place in the Adelaide United squad for the first time on Saturday in Gosford against the Central Coast Mariners.

[davidmphill]

Re: Australian A League Wrap Up & Stats Blimey can't believe Romario is still playing! Must be in his 40's now. Last time I saw him he was a little chubby fella!

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Re: Australian A League Wrap Up & Stats

Mori joins Roar

Just a week after landing Frank Farina as its new coach, Queensland Roar has pulled off another coup landing striker Damian Mori for the rest of the season. Having already completed stints at Adelaide and Central Coast this year, the Hyundai A-League journeyman is out to prove hat he still has what it takes to compete at the top level. "Damian will be a new face in the squad and despite his 36 years he's still a very good player indeed," Farina said. "This signing will give the rest of the boys a boost at a time when we need it." Queensland currently occupies fourth spot on the table but has not won a game since defeating Perth on October 15. It is hoped that the addition of Mori will add potency to a forward line that has found it difficult to score goals lately, netting just one in almost 500 minutes of football. "He's a proven goal-scorer at this level and of course he's the all-time leading goal-scorer for Australia. He was in great form during his sport spell with Central Coast Mariners and we're hoping he can reproduce that form for us," Farina said. Mori was surprised but delighted to receive the call-up from the former Socceroos manager. "I got the call from Frank (Farina) yesterday (Tuesday) and my situation with the Mariners was such that I was unable to sign for any longer. It was great to hear from him because for me it's all about playing games." "I love playing football and I want to play finals football. Signing for Queensland will hopefully give me the chance to do that," Mori said. The productive striker is optimistic about the Roar's chances this season but noted the importance of attaining positive results leading in to the finals. "There are still several teams that can make the finals and for us now it's all about getting on a good run. Every team has something to play for and if we can get a couple of wins on the trot then we're right back in there again. Queensland are still in fourth place as we speak so we have the platform to build on already and it's all about getting on a run from here." "There are still eight games to go before the finals and I'm very confident that we can turn the season around from here." Mori will join up with his new team-mates on Thursday ahead of Friday night's clash against Sydney FC.

[davidmphill]

Re: Australian A League Wrap Up & Stats

It's because he takes the penalties for Melbourne that's why Dave. I think he has scored 5 or 6 from penalties.

Ahh, that explains it all.:ok Never had him down as an attacking full back in the Stuart Pearce mode apart from his tackling of course.

[Beejayville]

Re: Australian A League Wrap Up & Stats That sure is a strange quirk in the rules that allows Damian Mori to go to Queensland Roar. Queensland have the most shots in the league and with Mori up there he is going to be on the end of a few of those shots, so i would expect the Roar to start scoring again when he is there. Mori is just what the Roar needs, great coup by Farina. Central Coast mariners on the other hand, they lose 40% of their goal scoring power and that is going to be hard to replace. The Roar could be mighty hard to contain with Mori up there.