Before a ball has been kicked in anger, Sydney FC are the best backed team with online bookmaker sportsbet.com.au to take out the 2012/13 A-League title.
Champions Brisbane remain favourites at $4.33, with Sydney FC ($5.50), Melbourne Victory ($5.50), Central Coast Mariners ($8.00), Perth Glory ($8.50) and Adelaide United rounding out the top six. The Wanderers remain the $34 outsiders.
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In Johnny Warren Medal winner betting, Thomas Broich and Marcos Flores have been installed as the $5.50 favourites, with Italian superstar Alessandro Del Piero next at $6.50 while the rest of the ’big three’ are both in contention with Shinji Ono and Emile Heskey priced at $11 and $12 respectively.
“Sydney FC are the best backed side to win the league and that has been a direct result of signing Alessandro Del Piero, while interestingly the Newcastle Jets are the next best supported team at $15,” said sportsbet.com.au’s Ben Hawes.
“There’s also been strong support for Perth, who’ve firmed from $10 into $8.50 as a result, while we’ve seen more money for the Wanderers to win the title than for the Mariners and Wellington.”
The Wanderers ($2.25) are the favourites to run last and are the $3.00 outsiders to make the finals, while the Melbourne Heart are also tipped to struggle, only behind Western Sydney to finish last ($4.33) and make the top six ($1.91).
Besart Berisha heads the betting at $7.00 to be the competition’s leading goalscorer this season, with Shane Smeltz and Del Piero next at $8.00 while Heskey is on the fourth line of betting at $12.
Sydney FC ($2.10) are favoured to finish higher on the ladder than any other New South Wales side this season, while the Roar ($1.80) are expected to win the battle of the rest.
Markets courtesy of sportsbet.com.au
2012/13 A-League Grand Final winner
(prices in brackets from 16 September)
$4.33 Brisbane Roar (out from $4.00)
$5.50 Sydney FC (out from $5.00)
$5.50 Melbourne Victory (in from $6.00)
$8.00 Central Coast Mariners (out from $7.00)
$8.50 Perth Glory (in from $10)
$10 Adelaide United (in from $12)
$13 Wellington Phoenix (in from $15)
$15 Newcastle Jets (in from $16)
$15 Melbourne Heart (in from $17)
$34 Western Sydney (steady)
Johnny Warren Medal winner
$5.50 Thomas Broich, Marcos Flores
$6.50 Alessandro Del Piero
$8.00 Brett Emerton
$9.50 Mitch Nichols
$11 Besart Berisha, Shinji Ono
$12 Erik Paartalu, Shane Smeltz, Dario Vidosic, Nick Montgomery, Tomas Rogic, Archie Thompson, Emile Heskey
Others quoted
Wooden Spoon
$2.25 Western Sydney
$4.33 Melbourne Heart
$6.00 Newcastle Jets
$12 Adelaide United, Wellington Phoenix
$15 Perth Glory
$21 Central Coast Mariners
$26 Sydney FC, Melbourne Victory
$36 Brisbane Roar
Top Six Finish
$1.17 Brisbane Roar
$1.28 Melbourne Victory
$1.28 Sydney FC
$1.30 Central Coast Mariners
$1.45 Perth Glory
$1.53 Wellington Phoenix
$1.53 Adelaide United
$1.83 Newcastle Jets
$1.91 Melbourne Heart
$3.00 Western Sydney
Top Goal Scorer
$7.00 Besart Berisha
$8.00 Shane Smeltz, Alessandro Del Piero
$9.50 Archie Thompson
$12 Sergio Van Dijk, Krunoslav Lovrek, Emile Heskey
$19 Dino Kresinger
$20 Josip Tadic
$21 Stein Huysegems, Marcos Flores, Jeremy Brockie
$23 Henrique, Paul Ifill, Joel Chianese
$26 Bernie Ibini-Isei
Top NSW Team
$2.10 Sydney FC
$2.50 Central Coast Mariners
$5.50 Newcastle Jets
$14 Western Sydney Wanderers
Best Of The Rest
$1.80 Brisbane Roar
$3.60 Perth Glory
$6.50 Adelaide United, Wellington Phoenix
Top Sydney Team
$1.16 Sydney FC
$4.65 Western Sydney Wanderers
Top Victorian Team
$1.36 Melbourne Victory
$3.00 Melbourne Heart