Football Bet of the Day: Jets could sink in Sydney waters

Wednesday's football bet of the day comes from Sydney, Australia as Rockdale Ilinden host Newcastle Jets (10:30) in the Australia Cup round of 32.

The visitors are heavy favorites to go one better than last year and advance to the last 16 of the competition, but could there be a sting in the tail at the Rockdale Ilinden Sports Centre?

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Newcastle Jets booked their spot in the round of 32 with a 4-1 victory over fellow A-League side Western United in the preliminary play-offs last Wednesday.

A comedic own-goal from United's Ben Garuccio handed the Jets the lead in Darwin before Thomas Aquilina and Nathan Grimaldi made it 3-0 before half-time. Aquilina added his second and Newcastle's fourth in the 67th minute and only with the game petering out did United score a consolation through Riku Danzaki in the 89th minute.

The scoreline made for great reading for Jets supporters who suffered another miserable A-League campaign in 2023/24, finishing in the bottom four for the sixth successive year.

The Jets should be buoyed by last week's thrashing of Western United, but expectations for the upcoming campaign should be tempered by the fact that their opponents were one of just two sides to finish below them last season.

Nevertheless, a cup tie with a lower-tier team should provide a further confidence boost ahead of the start of their league fixtures in October.

However, Rockdale Ilinden will be eyeing a famous 'cupset' after winning 17 of their last 20 games, form which has them sitting six points clear of second-placed Marconi in the National Premier League NSW - the highest men's competition in New South Wales. The semi-professional league is a subdivision of the second-tier National Premier Leagues, which sits below the national A-League.

The gulf in finances and talent between Ilinden and the Jets is huge, but crazy things can happen in the cup, as we saw earlier today when NPL Victoria outfit Oakleigh dumped reigning champions Sydney FC out of the competition. The Sky Blues were beaten 3-1 at the Jack Edwards Reserve, despite fielding a strong side in Melbourne.

Oakleigh are another team riding high in their league and seemed to take that confidence with them into their round of 32 tie.

Elsewhere, O'Connor Knights, third in the NPL ACT, gave Macarthur a fright in the Australia Cup, taking the lead in the 57th minute only to lose 2-1 to the Bulls.

Rockdale Ilinden vs Newcastle Jets Odds

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Those two results, in particular Sydney FC's loss to Oakleigh, highlight the fact that playing away to a lower-division team that has been playing regular football for months, can act as a leveler.

Unlike Sydney FC and Macarthur, the Jets have got some practice in ahead of Wednesday's trip to the Rockdale Ilinden Sports Centre, having beaten Western United in a competitive fixture just a week ago.

However, that was played at a neutral venue, whereas this round of 32 tie will be at the home of Ilinden who will look to create a hostile atmosphere at their own ground.

The Jets will be looking to the likes of Aquilina, who bagged a brace against United, and Lachlan Rose, a recent arrival from Macarthur, to prove their worth and pull the side through a potentially tricky trip to a lower-division club.

However, it's fair to say that the Jets are considerably weaker than last season after losing their two top goalscorers, Apostolos Stamatelopoulos and Trent Buhagiar, to Motherwell and Brescia respectively. Stamatelopoulos, in particular, is a huge loss after the Australia international struck 17 times in 25 A-League appearances last term.

Other departures include Brandon O'Neill and Rino Piscopo, both of whom played significant roles during the 2023/24 campaign.

Aleksandar Susnjar and Matthew Scarcella have arrived from Perth Glory and Sydney FC respectively, but the Jets are a work in progress, and head coach Robert Stanton could see his side suffer on Wednesday if Ilinden can build up any momentum in front of their supporters.

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