A-League Betting: Perth Glory the Asian Handicap pick at Western Sydney Wanderers
Recommended bet: Asian Handicap – Perth Glory +0.5 @ 1/1 (2.00) with bet365
The New Year begins with both Western Sydney Wanderers and Perth Glory looking to put recent poor runs of form behind them, with the Wanderers having won just one of their last 10 and Glory having fared little better with just a solitary victory in their last nine A-League matches.
It’s still relatively early days yet, but as things stand Perth Glory occupy the final play-off spot for the Elimination Finals, with Western Sydney Wanderers just one place behind them and level on points.
Both teams come into this match on the back of away draws, with Wanderers claiming an impressive point at 2nd in the table Brisbane Roar. They did suffer a potentially costly blow in having their leading scorer, the veteran striker Brendon Santalab, sent-off late on.
With Santalab now banned for three matches and fellow striker Kerem Bulut having just been released from his contract, it leaves Wanderers looking short of attacking options, particularly with the transfer window not open until 4th January.
Glory claimed an impressive 3-3 draw away to Melbourne City, rallying from a goal down on three occasions. Even so, they were grateful to goalkeeper Liam Reddy who pulled off two excellent penalty saves (out of three spot-kicks faced), including one deep into stoppage-time that resulted in a red card for defender Dino Djulbic.
Wanderers main problem has been their woeful form at the ANZ Stadium this season, where they have yet to record a victory in six attempts and have only picked up a couple of points to date.
Despite their poor form, both these teams find the back of the net regularly enough. Where both have problems is that neither of them has proven to be very capable of keeping the ball out at the other end, with Wanderers having conceded 22 goals in a dozen matches and Glory having shipped 26, giving them the most porous defence in the league.
The teams have met once already this season, with the game at nib Stadium finishing in a 2-2 draw. A similar score wouldn’t be a surprise, but backing Glory +0.5 on the Asian Handicap looks the bet here, with a draw being good enough for a winning bet.
