WELLINGTON PHOENIX v MELBOURNE VICTORY
A-League
Friday 15th February 2019
Kickoff: 1935hrs
Pick: Both teams to score
Bookmaker: bet365
Odds: 1.50 (odds taken at 22:34 GMT, 14 Feb 2019)
The A-League returns this Friday night and a clash in the top six of the Australian top flight with 6th placed Wellington Phoenix entertaining 2nd placed Melbourne Victory as the betting tips continue at Westpac Stadium in Wellington.
Wellington Phoenix Prediction
Wellington Phoenix have dropped down to 6th place on the A-League ladder after having recorded just one league win from their last five matches overall, which was a 1-0 win over the other Melbourne club, Melbourne City, towards the end of January.
However, draws with Melbourne Victory 3-3 away and 1-1 at Newcastle Jets (albeit good results), along with defeats to Sydney and Perth Glory mean that the hosts could be up against it here despite holding home advantage.
On a positive note, home form has been good for The Phoenix as they’ve won four of their last five at Westpac Stadium with wins over Central Coast Mariners (twice), Brisbane Roar and Melbourne City, while their leading goalscorer Krishna (11 goals) has been well supported by the likes of fellow forward Williams (6 goals).
The hosts have a home record of 5-1-3 14/12 and both teams have scored in 5 of their 9 home matches to date this season.
- Wellington Phoenix have won 4 of their last 5 matches at home
- Melbourne Victory have won 3 of their last 4 away matches
- The last meeting between these two sides ended in a 3-3 draw
Melbourne Victory Prediction
Melbourne Victory’s promising five match sequence without defeat came to an abrupt end last time out when they suffered a 2-1 loss at home to the runaway A-League leaders Perth Glory who are showing no signs of letting up at the top of the table.
Melbourne Victory had previously registered four wins and a draw within this five match period with victories gained over Newcastle Jets, Brisbane Roar, Sydney and Central Coast Mariners, along with the 3-3 draw with tonight’s hosts, Wellington Phoenix.
Overall form away from home has also been pretty solid as the visitors have posted an away record to date of 6-1-1 18/9 which includes three wins from their last four trips which were wins against Western Sydney Wanderers, Brisbane Roar and Central Coast Mariners, while a 2-0 defeat away at Adelaide United has been their only blemish on their travels so far this season. There is a feeling though that although Melbourne Victory are considered to be amongst the favourites to lift the A-League crown in any season, that the visitors do give you a chance at the back, and this is underlined by the fact that both teams have scored in 5 of their 8 away matches so far this term.
Betting Tips Verdict
This could be another close fixture here and backing both teams to score seems to make sense in this one.
