The Socceroos continue their quest for World Cup qualification when they take on the Nepalese on Thursday night in Canberra. Here, we give a brief preview of the clash and provide our best bets for the important fixture. Good luck to everyone following!
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FIFA World Cup Qualification Betting Tips
Australia vs Nepal
Thursday, 8pm AEDT, GIO Stadium, Canberra
This fixture has flown under the radar as it’s only early in the World Cup qualification process and there’s still a long way to go, however, each and every game is important, and the Socceroos are well aware of that after nearly failing to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
The Socceroos won their opening fixture against Kuwait by three goals to nil on enemy soil. Matt Leckie scored a brace inside 30 minutes and Aaron Mooy scored the Aussie’s third and final goal in the 38th minute. A starting XI for their game against Nepal is still to be announced, and there’s likely to be a big shake up from the XI we saw against Kuwait last month.
For Nepal, they lost their opening fixture to Kuwait 7-0 in a very poor performance by all account, although they managed to bounce back quickly after to defeat Chinese Taipei 2-0 to keep their qualification hopes alive. Anjan Bista was the hero with a brace and will be the one to watch again this Thursday night.
The Socceroos are the huge favourites to win this match and it’s easy to see why. The fact that they beat Kuwait 3-0 and Nepal lost to Kuwait 7-0 speaks for itself. Because of this, there’s absolutely no value in the head-to-head market and the goal line has been set at a rarely large 5.5. However, Graham Arnold has publicly stated that his Socceroos will be ruthless against Nepal and if Kuwait can score seven against them, then the Aussies sure as hell can too.
Australia -5.5 Handicap
$2.08
Which Half Will 4th Goal Be Scored?
There aren’t too many markets that caught our eye but this one certainly did. As mentioned above, we expect the Socceroos to score their fair share of goals in this clash. Keeping in mind that second halves of soccer matches notoriously contain more goals than first halves, you’re getting great odds here for the 4th goal to be scored after half time. If there’s going to be goals in this, and we’re pretty confident there will be, then expect around 2-3 in the first half, then 3-4 in the second half when Nepal have dropped their heads and begin to lose their shape. Moreover, the beauty about this bet is that it acts as a saver for our play above, but there’s also the real chance that both come off.
