A-League Betting: Over 3.5 Goals Looks the Best Between Melbourne City and Perth Glory
Recommended bet: Over 3.5 Goals @ 2.65 with Unibet
The second of the Elimination Finals games takes place on Sunday at AAMI Park, in what will be the second meeting in a week between Melbourne City and Perth Glory.
Should this clash be anything like last Sunday’s meeting at Glory’s nib Stadium, there will be few complaints from any neutral fans watching.
Goals always looked likely given the recent history between these two teams, but few would have anticipated the nine-goal deluge that saw Glory eventually edge home 5-4.
It has to be taken into account that there was relatively little at stake last weekend, whereas this match is quite simply win or bust. It should ensure that both teams are somewhat more cautious on this occasion, although that certainly doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t expect goals again.
All three games between these two teams were high-scoring in the regular season, with a hat-trick from Irish striker Andy Keogh helping Glory to a 3-2 victory at AAMI Park last October, followed by a 3-3 draw at the same stadium a couple of days after Christmas. Finally we had the goal-fest last Sunday, making a total of 20 goals in three matches to date.
In total there have now been four or more goals in eight of the last nine meetings between these two teams in all competitions, so goals are a regular factor in this fixture.
Both teams found goalscoring relatively easy over the course of the regular campaign, but neither convinced defensively either. For their part, City scored 49 goals whilst conceding 44 themselves.
Glory were even more extreme, having scored 53 goals, a tally only surpassed by table-topping Sydney FC. Their problem was at the other end, where they also conceded 53 goals, a tally only equaled by bottom of the table Newcastle Jets.
There might be more at stake in this game than last week, but the fact remains that both these teams are far better attacking than they are defending.
Once the deadlock is broken, the team that concedes will have to take chances and that should ensure another open encounter. As a consequence, backing Over 3.5 Goals in the game again looks a good bet here.
