David Flower
Dailysports's expert
Central Coast Mariners
Macarthur FC
One of the matches of the 25th round of the Australian championship will be played on Sunday in Gosford, where the local Central Coast Mariners will host Macarthur. I propose a bet on the outcome of this clash with a good coefficient.
Match preview
The reigning champion of the last two editions is officially parting with the crown. This season has turned into a real disaster. The team failed to break into the top 6 at the end of the regular season—an unmitigated failure. Moreover, in the Champions League, "Central" looked helpless, not securing a single win. Despite all these fiascoes, Mark Jackson remained at the helm. Apparently, the club still holds his past successes in memory, allowing him to finish out the season. But the situation screams for an urgent overhaul.
In 24 rounds, the team managed to come out on top only five times. This is the level of teams at the very bottom of the table—the numbers speak for themselves. Moreover, if in the first part of the season the team occasionally showed signs of life, since the beginning of the year everything has completely fallen apart. Motivation—zero, gameplay—in agony. In the last 13 matches, they only managed to beat "Perth" (3:1), and in the previous round, they suffered a humiliating defeat from "Newcastle Jets"—0:6. And this despite the fact that the "Jets" are by no means a grand and not even a solid mid-table team.
"Macarthur" is currently eighth in the table and still in the game for the playoffs—only two points separate them from the coveted top six. Of course, tough challenges lie ahead in the remaining rounds, but theoretically, the chances of making it to the decisive part of the campaign remain. Moreover, this season can already be counted as a success for the "Bulls"—the trophy for winning the national cup adds a significant plus to the picture.
Mile Sterjovski's team was confidently progressing, but at the end of winter, they hit a turbulent zone—five matches without a win, with only one ending in a draw, the rest being outright losses. Nevertheless, the team from the Sydney suburbs remains a solid mid-table team capable of challenging even the favorites. Based on current form, "Macarthur" looks impressive—recently defeating "Adelaide" on the road (5:4) and orchestrating a thorough thrashing of "Brisbane" (5:1).
Probable lineups
- Central Coast Mariners: Kullen - Paul, Sainsbury, Kaltak - Mauragis, McCalmont, Steele, Mikael Doka - Theoharous, Kuol, Vitor Feijao
- Macarthur: Kurto - Vujica, Jones, Jurman, Adamson - Brattan, Hollman, Rose - Oliveira, Jakolis, Drew
Match facts and head-to-head
- In the first round, the teams played to a 1:1 draw
- The "Total over 2.5" bet won in three out of five matches
- The "Both teams to score" bet won in 4 out of 5 clashes
Prediction
The "Mariners" are frankly playing out the season, and it's not surprising that bookmakers give a slight advantage to Macarthur. Our bet for the match is "Macarthur win with handicap (0)" at odds of 1.77.
