SOCCER FOOTBALL 24H

Newcastle Jets v Melbourne Victory – (Sat 7:50pm) History Newcastle: The Jets are just a single win away form completing the unthinkable… Twelve months ago they collected the wooden spoon following a season that featured just 5 wins and a league worst defence – conceding 53 goals. A year on, coach Ernie Merrick has transformed the Jets into the entertainers of the A-League. They scored 57 goals in the regular season and managed to deal with the unexpected exit of their star player – Andrew Nabbout. This is just the second Grand Final appearance for one of the founding clubs of the competition and they will look to replicate their win over the Mariners in 2008. Melbourne Victory: They are the most successful club in the history of the A-League. They are appearing in a record 6th Grand Final and are seeking an unprecedented 4th title. Add the 3 Premier’s Plates to that and last week’s win over Sydney FC is no fluke. This is a club that knows how to win – whether it be at home or o...

Brisbane v Central Coast – (Sat 5:35pm) Two points dropped is how the Roar will view their draw with Wellington last week. They failed to produce in a match which had huge finals implications for them. They would have penciled in 6 points for the two games against the cellar dwellers making this one all the more important. The Roar do have the advantage of facing a dejected Mariners side. They were set to take yet another point of the league leaders but conceded with virtually the last kick of the game. Recovering from that will not be easy and The Wolf says that we could see Brisbane get the jump on them early as a result. They are undefeated in their last 11 against the Mariners – a stretch that included 9 wins. They will be extending their unbeaten run thanks to a dominant win. Best Bet: HT/FT – Brisbane/Brisbane ($2.45) Value Bet: Time of 1st Brisbane Goal – Up to 15th minute ($4.00) Melbourne Victory v Western Sydney – (Sat 7:50pm) Somehow the Wanderers are clinging onto 6t...

Western Sydney v Wellington – (Sat 7:50pm) The Wanderers scored the opening goal for the 5th consecutive time last week but for the third week running failed to collect all 3 points. They can be forgiven for letting leads slip against Sydney FC and the Jets but they should have shut out the Glory. The Wolf says they will not be sacrificing any lead against bottom of the table Wellington. The Nix have lost 4 of their last 5 and failed to score in each of those defeats. The Wanderers are undefeated in the last 5 meetings between the two sides and most recently rolled Wellington by a scoreline of 4-0. Riera has scored 5 in his last 5 so look for him to feature in what will be a comfortable win. Best Bet: Western Sydney WIN ($1.83) Value Bet: Teams To Score – Western Sydney Only ($3.50) Perth v Central Coast – (Sat 10:00pm) Central Coast got the better of the Phoenix in the battle of the cellar dwellers last time out and have now lost only 3 of their last 9. That is an achievement for a...

Ange Postecoglou's men are being heavily backed to cruise in both of their next two matches despite missing several key personnel, including captain Mile Jedinak Punters and bookmakers may not have learned from Australia's tight win over Kyrgyzstan in June, with the Socceroos close to unbackable favourites for their next two World Cup qualifying matches. Ange Postecoglou's Asian Cup winners took an early lead but had to battle hard to earn a 2-1 win in Bishkek in their last match, having been pushed all the way by their underdog opponents. Coming up next is a match at home to Bangladesh in Perth on Thursday, where the hosts are paying just $1.02 at bet365 . The visitors are a huge  $41  to cause an upset at nib Stadium, with the draw paying  $17 . Such is the extent the away team are being written off that you can get  $11  on there being less than 2.5 goals in the game. And the odds are only slightly more generous for Australia's trip to Dushan...

SOCCEROOS coach Ange Postecoglou went into this morning’s clash against Germany wanting his team to continue their climb up the international football ladder. His counterpart Joachim Loew was seeking a tough contest that would get Germany’s World Cup defence back on track. A heart-pumping 2-2 draw gave them both what they were hoping for. In a game that Australia could have easily won, the Socceroos took up where they left off at the Asian Cup, doing their country proud in a whole-hearted display that proved once again that under Postecoglou they will not take a backward step against any team in the world. They have never lacked heart, but their most recent performances have shown that skill and cohesion have been added to the mix. In fact, if not for the lack of the kind of ruthless finisher that Germany and the other top nations seems to grow on trees, they could have been out of sight by half-time. If Socceroos’ supporters ever needed evidence of just how much the t...

Massimo Luongo's eye-catching performance in Friday's 4-1 win over Kuwait at the AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015 highlights the success of Australia's ongoing revamp according to coach Ange Postecoglou. Luongo, who plays in the third tier of English football for Swindon Town, set-up Tim Cahill's 33rd minute equaliser at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium after tournament hosts Australia had fallen behind after just eight minutes of the Group A opener before the 22-year-old netted his first international goal just before half-time. And with Mile Jedinak and James Troisi extending the advantage in the second half, 2011 finalists Australia secured the ideal start to the campaign for a squad which includes several players with only a handful of international caps. "He's one of the guys that we've blooded in the last 14 months and he's one of the few we've worked with, persevered with and put them into camps and into tough situation...

Friday, 2 January 2015 F T Melbourne Victory 1 - 2 Perth Glory Saturday, 3 January 2015 F T Sydney FC 0 - 0 Newcastle Jets Sunday, 4 January 2015 F T Wellington Phoenix 3 - 0 Brisbane Roar FC F T Central Coast Mariners 2 - 0 Melbourne City FC Monday, 5 January 2015 F T Perth Glory 1 - 2 Adelaide United Tuesday, 6 January 2015 F T Western Sydney Wanderers FC 1 - 2 Melbourne Victory table # Team Name P W D L F A GD PTS 1 Perth Glory 14 10 2 2 25 15 +10 32 2 Wellington Phoenix 14 9 1 4 28 14 +14 28 3 Melbourne Victory 14 8 4 2 28 15 +13 28 4 Adelaide United 14 8 2 4 22 14 +8 26 5 Sydney FC 14 4 7 3 15 15 0 19 6 Melbourne City FC 13 4 4 5 20 24 –4 16 7 Brisbane Roar FC 13 3 3 7 14 19 –5 12 8 Central Coast Mariners 14 2 6 6 12 21 –9 12 9 Newcastle Jets 14 1 5 8 12 28 –16 8 10 Western Sydney Wanderers FC 12 0 4 8 7 18 –11 4

Friday, 26 December 2014 F T Melbourne City FC 1 - 1 Perth Glory F T Sydney FC 0 - 3 Adelaide United Saturday, 27 December 2014 F T Central Coast Mariners 3 - 3 Brisbane Roar FC F T Melbourne Victory 1 - 0 Newcastle Jets Sunday, 28 December 2014 F T Wellington Phoenix 1 - 0 Western Sydney Wanderers FC table # Team Name P W D L F A GD PTS 1 Perth Glory 12 9 2 1 22 12 +10 29 2 Melbourne Victory 12 7 4 1 25 12 +13 25 3 Adelaide United 12 7 2 3 19 10 +9 23 4 Wellington Phoenix 12 7 1 4 22 13 +9 22 5 Sydney FC 12 4 5 3 15 15 0 17 6 Melbourne City FC 11 3 4 4 15 20 –5 13 7 Brisbane Roar FC 11 3 2 6 14 16 –2 11 8 Central Coast Mariners 12 1 5 6 10 21 –11 8 9 Newcastle Jets 12 1 4 7 10 23 –13 7 10 Western Sydney Wanderers FC 10 0 3 7 6 16 –10 3 -- Posted By Blogger to SOCCER 24H on 12/29/2014 09:32:00 pm