The A-League gets underway this weekend, but Australian-based Socceroos will not be in action as Australia continue their 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign.
Australia played some very polished football against Iraq in the opening game of the third stage to record a comfortable victory before they score another victory over the United Arab Emirates and if they can take three more points from this clash with Saudi Arabia they will be in the box-seat in this group before their crucial clash with Japan on Tuesday.
Will it be another walk in the park for Australia or will the trip to Saudi Arabia prove too great a challenge? I have analysed the Saudi Arabians closely to come up with the best betting plays for this intriguing fixture.
Recent Meetings
This will be just the fifth meeting between Australia and Saudi Arabia as the two nations have generally been in opposite groups since Australia joined the Asian Confederation.
The two teams squared off for the first time at the Confederations Cup in 1997 and it was Saudi Arabia that was able to come away with the victory.
Saudi Arabia hosted Australia for the first time in 2011 during qualifying for the 2014 World Cup and the Socceroos were able to come away with the victory before they beat their rivals 4-2 on home soil.
Australia made it three wins on the trot over Saudi Arabia when they met at Craven Cottage in a friendly in September of 2014.
Tactics
Australia have played a far more possession-based style of football since Ange Postecoglou took over as head coach and we played fairly well in our two stage three World Cup Qualifiers to date.
Postecoglou has already taught this side to play with a bit more versatility and the fact that he set up the midfield in different formation and had success with both is a very positive sign for the Socceroos going forward.
Saudi Arabia coach Bert Van Marwijk is a naturally defensive coach and he is likely to set-up his side in a conservative 4-5-1, which will likely allow the Socceroos to control the football for the majority of this clash.
This will likely play into the hands of Postecoglou’s men as their ability to maintain possession against sides that are willing to sit back and defend has improved significantly in the past 12 months.
Analysis
Australia will go into this clash as favourites and it is very easy to see why.
Saudi Arabia really don’t offer much more of a threat than what was posed by both Iraq and the United Arab Emirates and the Socceroos have already shown they are more than capable of dealing with this sort of competition.
The Green Falcons may be unbeaten during this stage of World Cup Qualifying, but they were poor against Thailand and Iraq and extremely lucky to come away with the victory.
Australia will go into this clash as favourites and should just have too much quality for their rivals – even in less than favourable conditions.
Australia To Win @ $2.10