Currently sitting one point behind group leaders Saudi Arabia and Japan, Australia will need to leap frog at least one of them if they wish to gain automatic qualification into the 2018 World Cup. With 5 games remaining for the Socceroos, they are definitely still in the mix, and a few wins this week will have them in the box seat.
If Australia fail to place 1st or 2nd in their group, they will be forced to play off against a team from the CONCACAF, or the Northern and Central America’s Confederation, to book a ticket, or if the Socceroos go poorly over the next two games, their World Cup campaign could be over by this time next week.
Fortunately for the Aussies, their two upcoming fixtures are both very winnable games, the first of which being against 5th placed Iraq, who have registered just one win in the group stage so far. Australia are the only undefeated team left in Group B with 2 wins and 3 draws while both Saudi Arabia and Japan both have a 3-1-1 record.
The Socceroos will make the trip to bordering Iran to play their fixture against Iraq on Thursday night, and while the hot and humid weather in the Middle East is usually a massive concern for the Aussies, rain and a cooler change is expected for Thursday, which should bode well for the tourists.
It seems that most people would agree that the Aussies are the better team on paper here, but after a shock 2-2 draw with Thailand in their last WCQ fixture which gave Thailand their only point of the group stage so far, there is still much to be desired with the current Socceroos line-up. One could blame the conditions in Thailand for the draw, but with the likes of Aaron Mooy, Robbie Kruse and Matthew Leckie running the midfield, the Socceroos shouldn’t be dropping games like that.
Iraq will come into the matchup in some decent form after win over Iran in a friendly last week, but it will be a massive step up in class here against the Aussies. Aussie Coach Ange Postecoglou has named his squad for the two matches, the second of which will be played in Sydney on March 28th.
As it’s crucial to get some points here for the automatic qualification, Postecoglou has gone all out with selection, naming arguably the strongest squad of the campaign so far. Regulars Tim Cahill, Mooy, Lecki and Kruse will join a host of stars in Mile Jedinak, Massimo Luongo and Tom Juric. Tom Rogic will be a notable absentee through injury but Melbourne Victory star James Troisi looks the readymade replacement.
Hard to look past the Aussies here, even after the 2-2 draw with Thailand they are still the only undefeated team in the group and haven’t looked like getting beaten so far. Surprisingly, the bookies are still leaving some meat on the bone for us as well. In a must win for Postecoglou’s side, we like the Aussies at $1.75.
TIP: Australia to win - $1.75 at Unibet
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