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Top four face bottom four

This week will see the penultimate round of the 2007/8 A-League season and after the weekend results it has turned out that the top four teams will be playing teams in the bottom half of the league ladder.

The minor premiers will be decided in the last round which is good and all teams who have qualified for the finals have 31 points.

With Newcastle beating the pacesetters Central Coast Mariners, Melbourne Victory's hopes of securing a finals spot were all but dashed but there is no denying the fact that Melbourne is the form team at the moment but the problem is that they picked the form at the wrong time of the season.

However, it will be good if that form can be carried over into the Asian Champions League but with the first match on March 12 that form could have been lost by then which is why I think the finals would have been very important this time for Victory.

Back to round 21, just like last season, Newcastle Jets have the disadvantage of playing the first match of the round and this time against the resurgent Perth Glory and this could be a tough match for them especially against a team trying to avoid the wooden spoon.

I still think the matches in the last round of the season should all be played at the same time but it appears like television schedule by FoxSports means this will not happen. They could use Viewer's choice if they wanted to like they do for the English Premiership and make all four matches available live.

I think the Mariners should have wrapped up the minor premiership by now but they have had a horror last six matches only managing to win and draw once in the last six matches. Their form is identical to Adelaide's who have also collected four points from their last six matches.

In Wellington they face a team that is playing reasonably well and trying to avoid the wooden spoon which I don't think they deserve because they have been good throughout the season. It seems like this match will end up in an exciting draw.

Sydney did not lose away this season but they face the in-form Victory at home and I think this will be three points in the bag for the Melbourne team.

Of the top four teams, only Queensland Roar are playing away from home as they match against Adelaide United. I think if recent form is anything to go by then I expect the Roar to collect all three points and possibly win the minor premiership aided by their healthy goal difference.

Adelaide has lost its last four matches and has only won once in the last six matches and so this is a good chance for Roar to claim the minor premiership against a team struggling for form going into the Asian Champions League.

I am sure this is going to be another interesting and unpredictable round and lets hope there are more matches or teams next season.

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