The Socceross will square off against Oman in another must win game early on Wednesday morning as their World Cup qualifying campaign continues. As always, the Sunday League Shark has you covered with his full preview and betting tips for the clash below.
Oman vs Australia Betting Tips
Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex, Musat, Wednesday 2nd February, 3.00am (AEDT)
Qualification Progress
Australia did what they needed to do on Thursday night as they defeated Vietnam 4-0 to stay in touch with the top two teams in Group B of the third round of Asian qualifying. They still sit third in the group, but the two teams aboce them in Japan and Saudi Arabia face off on Wednesday morning as well, before Australia takes on both teams in the final two games of the group stage.
Australia desperately need to win this one to stay in touch, or even overtake one of the two teams above them. That will give them the best chance to win one or both of their remaining games to claim an all-imprtant top two spot in the group.
Luckily, if worst case does happen for the Aussies, they should at least have third place sewen up, meaning a difficult qualification road that goes through South America awaits.
Match Preview
Once again, Socceroos coach Graham Arnold will have his guns available to call upon for this crucial match, as he did on Thursday night against Vietnam. Earlier in the qualifying stages, some of the bigger names opted not to travel back from Europe, but with so much on the line, the likes of Rogic, Boyle and Mooy will all line up for the Socceroos on Wednesday morning.
Australia possible starting lineup:
Ryan; Grant, Sainsbury, Degenek, King; Hrustic, Rogic; Boyle, Mooy, Leckie; MacLaren
Tommy Rogic was the big factor against Vietnam last week. When he's not in the Socceroos line-up, they lack creativity and can often find themselves in tug-o-war matches that finish with few goals. When he is in though, it just seems like it opens up multiple avenues to goal, as he showed last week when he scored and created another goal in the 4-0 win.
Oman sit one spot below Australia on the table, but a full seven points in the rears. A win here would keep a small glimmer of hope alive, while a loss would certainly see them eliminated from contention for the 2022 World Cup.
Oman possible starting lineup:
Al-Mukhaini; Al Harthi, Al Khamisi, Durbein, Saleh; Fawaz, A.Al-Alawi, Al-Yahyaei; Aghbari, M Al-Alawi; Al-Hajri
They are coming off a tough 1-0 loss to group leaders Saudi Arabia last week in a game where they were competitive but ultimately outclassed.
These two nations have met 10 times in their history, with Australia maintaining a dominant 6-3-1 record. In those 10 games, Australia has plundered 21 goals compared to just 6 for Oman. In fact, Oman has onle scored multiple goals in a game against Australia once, back in 2013 when the two teams drew 2-2.
Australia claimed a 3-1 win in their 'home' leg of the current stage of qualificaiton. A game that was actually played on a neutral ground in Qatar due to the state of the COVID pandemic in Australia.
The Socceroos start as $1.53 favourites for the clash, a price I originally thought would be lower to be honest. I love the value about the Aussies here. They are in pretty good touch at the moment and with Rogic back in the side, their ability to score goals in bags of 3, 4 or 5 against the weaker Group B nations is much more likely.
