AFL Round 2 Betting Preview: Game Odds, Trends, Analysis for Week Ahead

Burned by five upset results in the first round, bettors are approaching Round 2 of the Australian Football League season with a degree of caution.Traditional powerhouses Hawthorn and Sydney Swans suffered shock first-up defeats, and as a result, they go into their Round 2 matches as outsiders, according to AustralianGambling.com.au, while St Kilda, Fremantle, Carlton, North Melbourne and Gold Coast Suns are all expected to lose for the second week in a row.The matches expected to provide the best contests are both at the MCG, where Richmond and Collingwood open the round on Thursday night, and Hawthorn host Adelaide Crows on Saturday afternoon.Richmond were impressive against Carlton in the season opener but go into Round 2 as $2.10 (AUD) outsiders, with Collingwood, who lost their opening match to the premiers, the Western Bulldogs, at $1.75.Tigers fans will fancy those odds considering their team have won three of their past four clashes with the Magpies.Hawthorn's new era began poorly when they were completely outplayed by Essendon last week. The jury is out on coach Alastair Clarkson's radical offseason list makeover, and the punters don't want to go near them.They are $2.26 against Adelaide despite having not lost a game to them since 2011. The Crows impressed with a big win over premiership favourites GWS Giants last week and have won their past two matches at the MCG. They are $1.65.Western Bulldogs and Sydney played out the 2016 decider less than six months ago, and the markets are predicting a repeat of that result with the Bulldogs at $1.57 and the Swans at $2.39 for the Friday night clash at Etihad Stadium. Sydney have won their past 10 at this ground, including three wins over the Bulldogs, and will be motivated to pull off the upset.The remainder of the round looks fairly clear cut with lopsided markets in most of the matches.GWS are $1.13 to bounce back from their poor first-up loss and knock off the Gold Coast ($6.50), who were disappointing in their narrow defeat to Brisbane Lions.Brisbane, meanwhile, are $3 to go 2-0 when they face Essendon, who of course are coming off that emotional win over Hawthorn. The Bombers are $1.40.West Coast are $1.14 to win their first home match of the season against St Kilda, who are $5.30, while on Sunday, Geelong Cats coach Chris Scott is expected to get a win over his twin brother Brad, who coaches North Melbourne. The Cats are $1.25 to win that Etihad Stadium clash with the Kangaroos at $4.Melbourne haven't won their first two games in a season since 2005 but are $1.20 to do just that when they face Carlton ($4.60) at the MCG on Sunday, while the final match sees Port Adelaide, fresh from upsetting Sydney, at $1.27 to defeat Fremantle, who are $3.78.
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