AFL: Sydney Swans v Melbourne Demons preview & free betting tips

Swans v Demons best bets & odds

Sydney v Melbourne AFL match preview

After a long offseason and a couple of weeks of pre-season, the 2024 AFL Premiership season returns at last with a huge clash as the Sydney Swans host the Melbourne Demons at the SCG on Thursday night.

Having finished seventh last season, the expectations in Sydney have grown for 2024 after the Swans went all-in at the trade table. Recruiting Brodie Grundy, Taylor Adams and James Jordon to address their midfield concerns, the Swans looked set to improve what was the worst aspect of their game last year.

However, an off-season incident has left captain Callum Mills unavailable for the first half of the season, while pre-season injuries to Adams and Luke Parker leave the Swans scrambling for midfield replacements.

Bolters Angus Sheldrick and Matt Roberts are expected to line up this weekend, while the other selection dilemma is whether the Swans go with the youth of Joel Amartey or the experience of Sam Reid in the forward line.

For the Melbourne Demons, it was a horror off-season as they made headlines for all the wrong reasons. The suspension of forward Joel Smith, trade rumours around star midfielder Clayton Oliver and concerns around the culture of the club were just some of the constant distractions.

Then, just three weeks before the season, premiership player Angus Brayshaw was also forced to retire due to ongoing concussion symptoms.

Injuries in the forward line have decimated the Demons’ structure for the opening round with key position players Ben Brown, Tom Fullarton, Harrison Petty and Jake Melksham all unavailable, while the suspensions to Smith and Kysaiah Pickett will test their depth.

The Demons have already confirmed three club debutants for this clash. Caleb Windsor and Blake Howes will play their first AFL matches, while wingman Jack Billings is set for his first appearance in red and blue after transferring from St Kilda last year.

Swans v Demons AFL betting predictions

The opening round of any competition can be unpredictable, and this one looks no different as both sides carry their own concerns. One of the major talking points is the ruck battle between Max Gawn and Brodie Grundy, who faces his old side for the first time since an unsuccessful one-year stint with the Dees. Expect this to be an exciting contest with little between the sides, but with AFL betting sites offering coin-flip odds, back the Sydney Swans to win at home.

Swans wingman Errol Gulden emerged as an outright star of the AFL in 2023. With 42 disposals and two goals in the round 24 clash between these sides last year, another influential performance is expected from the 2023 All-Australian. Gulden averaged 26.8 disposals per game last year and is expected find even more of the ball this season, so there is value in backing him for 30 or more touches at +185 with Bovada.

With injuries throughout the Melbourne forward line, expect plenty of the attacking focus to be on Bayley Fritsch, who has led the Demons’ goalscoring for the past four seasons. A match-winning five-goal haul from Fritsch separated the sides last season as the Swans struggled to find a matchup for the versatile forward. That also came at the SCG, so back Fritsch in for three or more goals at +180 with top AFL bookmakers.

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