It all comes down to this for the Socceroos. With just one game left in the third round of the Asian World Cup Qualifiers, the Aussies will know by Tuesday night, after their game against Thailand, whether they have booked their place to the 2018 Russia World Cup or whether they’ll need to playoff against in the dreaded 5th round qualifiers against a representative from the North, Central American and Carribbean Federation (CONCACAF).
After a 2-0 loss to Japan last Thursday night, the Aussies now sit level on points with Saudi Arabia but behind them on the table due to a 2-goal difference advantage to the Saudis. A top two finish will mean automatic qualification for the Aussies while third place will see them play off for the chance to head to CONCACAF.
Granted, a playoff against the CONCACAF isn’t as daunting as the tasks of years passed, when the Aussies would have to face representatives from south America, most noteably of which was Uruguay. To finish third here would likely mean a matchup against Syria or Uzbekistan in the fourth round and a win in a home-away fixture would set up a playoff against either Honduras or Panama.
Luckily for the Aussies, they get arguably their easiest matchup of the qualifiers so far as they host Thailand on Tuesday night, who have secured just two draws throughout their nine games so far. One of the draws did come against Australia, a 2-2 result in what could only be described as less than desireable conditions in Bangkok.
The state of the pitch definitely had a part to play in Australia’s shock result that night. The Aussie players wouldn’t have been used to the dry and sticky turf and it strongly hindered their ability to use the pace of wingers Matthew Leckie and Robbie Kruse as the ball would just sit up and not slide through like normal.
The Aussies will love being back on home soil here and should have a near full strength side with star midfielder Aaron Mooy likely to come back into the side after missing their clash against Japan through illness.
Australia will be attacking from the outset here in an attempt to claw back the 2-goal deficit to Saudi Arabia. The problem is, however, that the Saudis game against Japan doesn’t start until the conclusion of their game so they won’t know exactly how much they need to win by.
With Australia such heavy favourites, there is hardly any value in the game. However, since they will be attacking so hard from the outset, there’s a high possibility of goals, going both ways. The last matchup between the two teams saw four goals scored and we think that could be beaten here.
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Thailand were able to find the back of the net twice against Australia a few months ago, and should get a lot of opportunity for counter attacks against the Aussies Tuesday night. We like them to score at least once.
TIP: Thailand to score - $2.30 at Ladbrokes
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