DESPITE a shaky opening month, the Western Sydney Wanderers are the feel-good story of the A-League as the first third of the 2015/16 season goes into the books.
After recording just one point from their opening three matches, the Wanderers have gone on a sensational run which has seen them surge to the top of the ladder.
They are three points clear of Melbourne Victory – who still have a game in hand.
Despite their winning run, the Wanderers are $5.00 second favourites with Sportsbet to win the 2015/16 minor premiership, with reigning premiers the Victory still the clear pick at $2.00.
The Wellington Phoenix loom as a dark horse this season.
After terrific wins against the Victory and equal third-placed Brisbane Roar, the Phoenix are a big threat to league leaders.
The Wanderers and the Victory meet in round 10 – a match that could determine the punter’s favourite for the title going into the latter stages of the regular season.
2015/16 A-League title market
Melbourne Victory 3.00
Western Sydney Wanderers 5.50
Melbourne City 6.50
Brisbane Roar 7.00
Sydney FC 7.00
Wellington Phoenix 14.00
Adelaide United 21.00
Newcastle Jets 23.00
Perth Glory 67.00
Central Coast Mariners 101.00
Top goal scorer market in the 2015/16 A-League season
The A-League golden boot is shaping to be one of the most hotly-contested markets in recent memory.
2011-12 winner, Besart Berisha, is favourite with the bookmakers to make it a pair of golden boots. The Victory man is at $2.87 to lead the league in goals scored in the regular season.
Berisha currently sits one goal behind Melbourne City front man, Burno Fornaroli, who has seven goals for the season.
Fornaroli is at $3.00 to top the A-League goal scoring tally this campaign
Roar striker Jamie MacLaren is the only other man under double figures ($7.50) while Johnny Warren Medal favourite Aaron Mooy is at $23 to take home the golden boot.
Johnny Warren Medal betting
The Johnny Warren Medal – awarded to the best player in the A-League across the regular season – looks like a one-sided affair at the round 10 mark of the season.
Melbourne City playmaker Aaron Mooy has been the dominant player this season and is the short priced favourite to take home the medal.
The only question is, will Mooy remain at City for the remainder of the season?
Fox Sports football pundit Robbie Slater believes there is a strong chance the 25-year old could be set to depart the league in the January transfer window.
“I’ve got a bit of a scoop for you on Aaron Mooy,” Slater said in the wake of City’s 5-1 win over the Central Coast Mariners.
“There are strong rumours, and my sources are telling me that Al-Nassr, coached by (Italian great) Fabio Cannavaro, are extremely interested in him.”
Despite the intense speculation, Mooy remains the $2.62 favourite for the medal, with Wanders’ midfielder Mitch Nichols the only other man under double figures at $7.00.
2016 Johnny Warren Medal betting market:
A Mooy (Melbourne City) 2.62
M Nichols (Western Sydney Wanderers) 7.00
R Bonevacia (Wellington Phoenix) 13.00
R Castelen (Western Sydney Wanderers) 13.00
T Broich (Brisbane Roar) 13.00
B Berisha (Melbourne Victory) 13.00
R Krishna (Wellington Phoenix) 15.00
B Fornaroli (Melbourne City) 15.00
K Barbarouses (Melbourne Victory) 17.00
MA Corona (Brisbane Roar) 21.00
A Brosque (Sydney FC) 21.00
G Finkler (Melbourne Victory) 23.00
O Bozanic (Melbourne Victory) 23.00
F Ben Khalfallah (Melbourne Victory) 26.00
J MacLaren (Brisbane Roar) 26.00
H Novillo (Melbourne City) 36.00
Wooden spoon market
With three teams locked on just one win each at the tail end of the ladder, the battle to avoid the dreaded wooden spoon looks like it will be heading either to Perth, Adelaide or the Central Coast.
Adelaide climbed off the bottom of the table with a hard fought 1-0 win over the glory after last year’s top scorer, Pablo Sanchez, put the home side in front within three minutes.
Given it took United until round nine to record their first league win, the $10.00 on offer from Sportsbet is very generous.
The Perth Glory sit at the bottom of the ladder, trailing the Central Coast Mariners by one point, but have a game in hand.
The Mariners are favourites for the spoon at $1.83, but the fact that they have only failed to find the back of the net once this season shows that they have the ability to win on their day.
2015/16 A-League Wooden Spoon Market
Central Coast Mariners 1.83
Perth Glory 2.80
Adelaide United 10.00
Newcastle Jets 13.00
Wellington Phoenix 26.00
Brisbane Roar 56.00
Melbourne City 67.00
Sydney FC 81.00
Western Sydney Wanderers 101.00
Melbourne Victory 226.00
A-League news – boycotting fans demand meeting with Gallop
The current ‘fan-ban’ scandal, which saw a significant number of fans exiled from all A-League matches looks like it could be on the verge of coming to a conclusion.
198 fans were banned from attending any A-League matches for the remainder of the season, with the fans of all clubs incensed that there is no clear appeals process to challenge the FFA’s decision.
David Gallop’s tenure as A-League chairman is under serious fire over the issue, which also saw the anonymity of the banned fans compromised after their names were leaked to Newscorp.
Sydney FC’s supporter group spokesperson Grant Muir, who was speaking on behalf of the A-League fan groups, said the boycotting of games can become an issue of the past if the governing body is serious about addressing the issues the fans have.
“We will be there to solve the problem and find ways to stop the protests,” Muir said.
“But the balls are in the FFA’s court. I am personally hopeful that enough will be agreed upon that we can go back to what we do best: supporting football.
“There’s an opportunity here, and I am happy that every fan group has come to together with the same mind-set.”
“When we take that into the meeting, we will come out with what we’re after, so long as the FFA is genuine in their desire to address this issue.”
The fans are looking for a meeting before the start of round 10, with their wish of a ‘fair and transparent’ appeals process the crux of their demands.
Muir believes the issue will resolve itself quickly if the FFA is prepared to ‘play ball’.
“Nobody wants to be doing this, and it all depends on what is said and done and what our collective interpretation of that is,” Muir said.
“As fans, these issues are more important than anything else to us, and they (FFA) would best take note of that.”
