Central Coast’s impressive recent unbeaten run spearheaded by the return of Mustafa Amini together with Brisbane’s faltering last couple of outings is showing up in the betting market.

“The Mariners have attracted strong interest in recent weeks, firming in from $6.00 to $5.50 but since comfortably beating the Jets in the F3 derby over the weekend, Graham Arnold’s men are into $4.50,” sportsbet.com.au’s Ben Hawes told au.fourfourtwo.com.

Coach Arnold tries to portray his side as battlers and underdogs but form and class on the park suggests otherwise as they look to knock off Brisbane this weekend in the clash of the round.

Depending on the result of Brisbane’s mid-week fixture against Wellington Phoenix in Dunedin, a win for Arnold’s men could take the Mariners to outright first in the A-League heading into Brisbane.

And after two losses on the trot, Brisbane have eased from $2.00 favourites out to $2.60 but are still clear favourites at this stage with the agency.

And with key men Matt Smith, Thomas Broich and Henrique all in doubt for the match, little wonder Arnold senses revenge could be on the cards after last March's epic grand final win for Roar.

“We’ve had some great contests we weren’t really ready for round one,” Arnold told his club website. “We’re ready now.”

However, the dark horse for the A-League could be one of the Melbourne sides with a strong shift in the market for the red and white half of town.

“While the top three have attracted consistent interest in recent weeks, it’s Melbourne Heart who are the biggest movers in the market into $11 after being at $23 chances only a fortnight ago,” Hawes said.

Meanwhile, according to sportsbet.com.au, Gold Coast are at $1.67 to take home the dreaded A-League wooden spoon.

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