- Gold Coast have won 4 of their last 5 in NPL Queensland.
- Rochedale Rovers have produced some good and bad form in recent weeks, trading wins and losses in their last 5 games.
- Gold Coast have a superior recent H2H record, winning 3 of the last 5 competitive matches between these clubs (2 draws, no Rochedale wins).
Cool Knights can tame hot shooters
Gold Coast Knights face Rochedale Rovers on Friday in a fixture that usually produces plenty of goalmouth action and an open, end-to-end affair. A recent 2-1 defeat to Peninsula Power was a close game and Rochedale's 0-2 defeat to the same club was a different story.
The Knights are in excellent form, with 4 wins from their last 5 NPL QLD matches, the only blemish being a 2-1 defeat away to current leaders Peninsula. This is a good time to have an opponent with a tendency to shoot themselves in the foot.
With Tyson Martin on song, the Knights always have the killer edge when the ex-League striker drifts into the box at the right time. Alex Morrison has the Knights playing attractive, proactive football, making good use of the wings and transitioning from defence to attack with speed.
The visitors have plenty of options to punish teams when they force the pace, with Martin and Brandon Inman leading the line, and Cody Nancarrow, who has also found the net in recent times and brings plenty of energy to the wide areas.
Pace vs pragmatism
Rochedale's best games have come when the front three have gelled and they have been a threat down the flanks in the last few outings. Obren Kljajić is the spearhead and has been their most prolific goal scorer this season, but Mitch Roberts has also benefited from good service during their better spells and given Rochedale a second route to goal.
Scott
MacNicol's men are set up in a compact 4-2-3-1 structure that should be well suited to causing Gold Coast some problems in the right conditions, but they will need
to keep their structure
and discipline.
Gold Coast are the
clear
pick
here,
but the 1.55 line
is a bit
short
for
the Knights,
who
make
Rochedale 4.24
and the draw 4.55. The main
surprise
bet
is that a draw could be on, especially if Rochedale can keep Kljajić
involved
and make the Knights work for
everything. Over 2.5 goals at 1.33 should
cover
the action
in
another NPL
QLD
shootout.
The Knights
have
the quality
and experience
to
edge
out
the
game
but it
is
unlikely
to be a routine win. Cool,
possibly
damp
conditions at
Underwood Park
on Friday
will add
to the slick,
scrappy
feel
of a
matchup
that will see
pace
versus
pragmatism
in a tightly packed
table. Gold Coast will
be
sitting
in the
upper mid-table
positions,
probably
5th-7th
on
around
20-26
points,
while Rochedale
will
be
in the
lower half,
probably
on
11
points.
The natural
score
line
will be
2-1
or
2-0
Gold
Coast
as the
Knights
have
shown
they can
punish
teams
at
will
while
Rochedale
have
been
caught
out
in
0-2
defeats
in the
league.