The Oceanian Cup – Who will Prevail?

After 12 weeks of intense matches, nervous waiting and a few penalty shootouts comes the cup final. To be contested between Bondi 1893 & Arms & Legs this Wednesday.

After 12 weeks of intense matches, nervous waiting and a few penalty shootouts comes the cup final. To be contested between Bondi 1893 & Arms & Legs this Wednesday.

Bondi, managed by DrLot of the PP, will face off against Arms & Legs of II.1. Bondi will be looking to add to their trophy cabinet already consisting of two Cup Trophies as well as 4 PP Titles. On the other side Arms & Legs will want to pick of their first major trophy of their Hattrick Career.

Bondi thus far has had a fairly forgettable season in the league, copping some rough results despite having a team capable of pulling some of the best ratings we have ever seen. Totalling 23 players with 2 258 560 in TSI & wage bill of $1 274 480 he is definitely a formidable opponent. With his current position in the league and his lack of success thus far this season, will the Dr be out to win the cup to take something from this season. Will he go all out this week in the cup or with 3 games to go and 5 points out of the qualification zone does he think he can make a late surge. For me I don’t think he can make it out of the relegation zone with 3 games to go, so I think he will be gunning for a cup title to take something out of a season where he is going to demote out of the top flight.

Arms & Legs on the other hand have been having a fantastic season. He has not only made the cup final but is currently sitting in 3rd place only 2 points away from the series lead. Undefeated for the last 11 competitive games I am sure he will be looking to continue that streak. With 23 players he has 2 579 630 TSI and a wage of $1 034 704. This means he is well placed to tackle Bondi on an even footing. The question is though, will he sacrifice a possible chance to win his first division II title & a shot at the PP for cup glory? If I was in his shoes I would chase cup glory all the way. You’ve made the final so you really need to give it your best shot and have no regrets.

This will be the first match between Bondi & Arms & Legs. This season thus far in the cup Bondi has been averaging 361 Hatstats in the cup, however if you only take the last 5 cup games this average increases to 456. He has not played Counter Attack once this cup campaign and only played it 3 times this season. Based upon this I cannot see him playing counter attack on Wednesday, preferring to meet Arms & Legs head on.

Arms & Legs has averaged 366 Hatstats in the cup but it increase to 439 over the last 5 games. This also shows just how close Arms & Legs are to Bondi in terms of team strength. Round 5 was the only cup game that Arms & Legs played Counter attack and he has also only done it 3 times in the league. Does this indicate a slight aversion to playing Counter attack? In such an important game I don’t think that he will, preferring to meet Bondi with his full strength midfield and battle it out.

Of tremendous importance to both teams will be today’s game. While a win would be ideal for both of them, realistically that might not happen with focus on Wednesdays cup. They cannot afford to have their Team Confidence dashed though as that will devastate their attack ratings. So essentially today’s goal for both teams will be to get through the match with no injuries and hopefully scrape a favourable result.

My prediction for this match is a close game where Bondi’s experience and tactical nous will prevail. I mean you don’t win 2 cup titles and 4 PP titles from nothing. With that being said when it comes down to a single game anything can happen and luck isn’t with him this season. I think it will be a battle between two heavy weight teams who would love for nothing more than to take the cup glory.

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