West Coast v Melbourne tips, best bets & odds, AFL rd 1, 2020

West Coast faces a tricky first-up clash against Melbourne at Optus Stadium on Sunday. In this article we’ll outline our best bet tips, winner prediction and take a look at the latest odds ahead of the 6.40PM AEDT start.

The Eagles have been priced at $1.33 to win this clash and would be among the premiership favourites, if online betting sites had not suspended futures markets because of the uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus.

Learn AFL Betting: Beginner’s Guide to Aussie Rules

The Demons are outsiders at $3.25 in betting, but should be much closer given their will be no rabid pro West Coast crowd in Perth, with no crowds, shorter quarters and a ban on hugging (hmmm) just some of the precautions being taken to combat the pandemic.

West Coast will unveil boom recruit Tim Kelly after his trade from Geelong, while Nic Naitanui is also fit and ready for a bumper contest against Demons captain Max Gawn, who has had recent knee troubles of his own

The Demons will have a significantly different look after and will unveil five new faces, with these including GWS recruit Adam Tomlinson, Freo runner Ed Langdon and youngsters Toby Bedford and Kysaiah Pickett (who looks to be an absolute excitement machine).

Below we’ll give you our best bets and winner prediction ahead of the West Coast v Melbourne clash in Perth, being played on Sunday, March 23.

Eagles v Demons odds

Head to head odds: Eagles ($1.33) v Demons ($3.25)
Line betting: Eagles -20.5 ($1.90) v Demons +20.5 ($1.90)
1st goalscorer odds: Josh Kennedy $7, Jack Darling $7.50, Bayley Fritsch $12, Tom McDonald $12, Jake Waterman $13, Jake Melksham $14, Liam Ryan $15

West Coast vs Melbourne best bet tips

Below we’ll highlight our best bets tips for the West Coast v Hawthorn game, including a winner prediction. We have tried to provide some value in our bets for this clash, and we’ve put an emphasis on smaller forwards, given their success so far in round 1 of the AFL.

Liam Ryan to score three or more goals

Liam Ryan is just too tempting to score more than three goals for the Eagles at $9, with Unibet with the excitement machine having no obvious match-up. The Dees are well stocked for key position players to curb Josh Kennedy and Jack Darling, with Lever and May, but Ryan is a player that could slip under the radar, as he often does in Perth.

Christian Petracca to score two or more goals for Melbourne

We really like Christian Petracca to score two or more for Melbourne, with this paying $5 with some betting sites. Petracca looks fitter than he has ever been before, with this potentially leading to more midfield time. But with a close to full team in now, we expect Petracca to still be a feature up forward for the Dees.

Naitanui v Gawn match-up tip: Don’t miss it

Two of the leagues best ruckmen go head-to-head and if the reports from the west are to be believed Nic Naitanui is ready to go and still has his leap, after serious injury troubles in recent years. Gawn is just Mr Consistent and one of the best tap ruckmen in the league. While we are not sure if you can bet on this match-up anywhere, we just wanted to highlight it for our US readers.

West Coast v Melbourne prediction 22/3/2020

There is a certain temptation into getting lured into betting on Melbourne to beat West Coast at long odds, but the reality is they just did not show enough ticker last season to warrant any respect from punters. For mine, West Coast is too short to back outright, but the line of 21.5 is tempting. Having said this, i’m not willing to bet on any margins in West Coast home games, until I see what impact no crowd has on results. My final West Coast v Melbourne winner prediction: West Coast by 22.

Relevant news