Australia v Saudi Arabia: Prediction, Tips and Odds

Japan have stolen a march on their group rivals in the Asian section of the World Cup qualifiers, with the Samurai Blue five points clear of Australia, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain as the third round of qualifying reaches the halfway point.

Two teams from the six-nation table will qualify automatically for the 2026 World Cup following this stage of proceedings, so the chasing pack can ill-afford to lose any more ground on the Group C leaders, and there are a couple of crucial contests taking place this Thursday.

First up is Australia's showdown with Saudi Arabia in Melbourne, which is followed later in the day by Bahrain's dust-up with struggling China.

Bahrain should be strong enough to see off the Chinese, who are bottom of the section after four matches, leaving the Socceroos and Saudi Arabia to lock horns in a contest neither side will want to lose.

Australia v Saudi Arabia betting tips and predictions

Australia to win & under 2.5 goals - 11/4

Australia have struggled for consistency in recent fixtures but the same could be said for their visitors this week. The Socceroos have won just one of their four matches in this stage of World Cup qualifying and they have six games left to seal their place at the 2026 finals in the USA, Canada and Mexico.

Saudi Arabia have an almost identical record to Australia and they are third in the standings behind their hosts only on goal difference, so it would be safe to assume a close contest could be on the cards at the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium this Thursday.

But preference is for Australia to come out on top this week, as they have a strong track record on home soil where they have lost just two of their last 12 matches in World Cup qualifying.

Things have been more cagey in meetings with Saudi Arabia with the last two clashes seeing just one goal scored.

Those two results are in stark contrast to match-ups prior to that which saw the five preceding encounters feature goal totals of five, four, five, six and four, with the Aussies winning four of those high-scoring fixtures.

Things are unlikely to be as lively this week as Australia have scored more than once in just one of their last four matches and on two of those occasions they failed to score at all.

Saudi Arabia have fired blanks in their last two outings and they were well beaten 2-0 by Japan last month. A cagey contest looks likely in this match so back the home side in a game featuring no more than two goals.

Australia to win 1-0 - 11/2

Saudi Arabia have won just one of their last five World Cup qualifiers and they look set to be edged out in another low-scoring encounter.

Three goals against strugglers Indonesia and China were followed by blanks against Japan and Bahrain, with another goalless performance against Australia appearing on the cards.

But the Socceroos are unlikely to cut loose and a 1-0 home win looks a solid bet.

That was the outcome when these two last met, with the result going in favour of the Saudis, but Australia can turn the tables on home soil this week.

Draw at half-time - 11/10

The last four meetings between Australia and Saudi Arabia have been all square at the break and this last match-up could continue that trend.

Neither side will want to lose this match so a cagey opening period looks likely.

Each of Australia's last four fixtures have seen the first half end in a draw, while three of Saudi Arabia's last four have also been tied at the interval.

Back this Melbourne contest to be locked level at the break too.

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Australia v Saudi Arabia odds

Australia - 4/5
Draw - 23/10
Saudi Arabia - 29/10

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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.