Brisbane Roar Vs Melbourne City

After ending our A-League Round 1 picks with a perfect record, BP returns with more A-League betting predictions for this week’s action. Today, we take a look at a fairly one-sided rivalry between Brisbane Roar and Melbourne City, who will lock horns on Friday, October 14.

When: Friday, October 14 – 18:35 AEST
Where: Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia
Weather: Cloudy, 23°C

Unlike A-League’s opening week, which was affected quite badly by rain, the opening match of Round 2 will be dry and a bit cloudy, providing solid weather conditions for Brisbane Roar and Melbourne City to show what they’ve got. But given their track record against City, Brisbane might have hoped for some rain to slow down one of A-League’s deadliest offensive line.

Brisbane Roar – Back-To-Back Home Games

There’s nothing better than playing the first match of the season at home – besides playing back-to-back games in front of a home crowd. Brisbane Roar were a very good home team last season, winning 20% more games and scoring 30% more goals on home ground, but the home-ground advantage has yet to shine through for them this season.

In the opening round, Brisbane Roar hosted Macarthur FC, but despite their best efforts, the Roar could only manage a point from the affair. In their defence, Roar played well, but they couldn’t find the chances they were after, with just three shots on target from 12 attempts.

Brisbane Roar had a superb chance to go one up in the 17th minute, but a lack of focus in front of the goal cost them an early lead and eventually two points.

Melbourne City – 7-3 Up Against The Roar

Melbourne City took care of business in the A-League season opener when they defeated Wester United (2-1) with the help of a 38-minute own goal by Leo Lacroix. The 30-year-old, however, wasn’t done and ended up assisting Jamie Maclaren in the 59th minute.

Having an additional player on the opposing team definitely helped Melbourne City grab all three points, but we wouldn’t say that the City didn’t deserve to win. They played well and took the chances presented to them.

And even though the match didn’t give us much to analyse, we didn’t see anything from Melbourne City we didn’t like. A solid team capable of competing with the best, and as their head-to-head record with Brisbane Roar suggests, more than capable of grabbing another three points on Friday.

Melbourne City have won seven of their last ten meetings with Brisbane Roar and four of their last five. That stretch includes back-to-back 2-1 wins.

Brisbane Roar vs Melbourne City Betting Odds

Melbourne City are priced as 2.00 favourites to defeat Brisbane Roar, who enter the match as 3.60 underdogs. Meanwhile, a draw is at 3.50 (3.84 Pinnacle), suggesting that there is only one way this bout can end.

Notably, the betting odds on Melbourne City have been dropping steadily since the market first opened on October 8, going from 2.28 to 2.00. Meanwhile, Brisbane Roar was initially priced as 3.05 underdogs, which makes it very clear where the market is moving.

Brisbane Roar vs Melbourne City A-League Betting Picks

Melbourne City already won one match, while Brisbane Roar are still seeking their first W of the 2022/23 A-League season. Admittedly, the clubs’ opening games of the season were in stark contrast regarding what should have happened and what happened.

Arguably, Brisbane Roar were the better team than Macarthur FC and were a bit unlucky not to come out ahead. That might be true, but it was also on the Roar, who failed to finish their chances, and this won’t fly against a quality side like Melbourne City – and those uncapitalised chances might as well prove to be the difference maker in this affair.

For our first A-League betting pick of round two, we like Melbourne City with a -0.25 AH, which you can grab at around 1.80 – 1.83.