Australia head to Qatar for an international friendly at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium on Friday, with the hosts having reached the Arabian Gulf Cup semi-finals just over a month ago.
The Socceroos have only played twice since the World Cup finals, but put up two strong performances, drawing 1-1 with Brazil before losing out 4-2 to the Selecao at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.
Qatar defeated Bahrain and Yemen and drew with the UAE to reach the last four of the Arabian Gulf Cup last month and only lost out on penalties to eventual champions Saudi Arabia in the last four.
Qatar v Australia Tips Summary
Best Bet - Both teams to score - Yes @ 1.90
Alternative Bet - Half with most goals - 2nd @ 2.10
Bet Builder - Australia or Draw - Double Chance, Almoez Ali to score anytime & Either Nestory Irankunda or Tete Yengi to score anytime @ 8.25
Qatar v Australia Prediction
Best Bet: Both teams to score - Yes @ 1.90
Socceroos head coach Tony Popovic is using this fixture as an opportunity to blood some new players, with Diesel Herrington, Sam Klein and Thomas Waddingham among those hoping to make their national team debuts.
With an air of change wafting around the Australia camp - Gianni Stensness and Daniel Arzani have both earned recalls - and them having kept just three clean sheets across their last ten matches, goals for both sides seems like a decent prospect.
Qatar have three forwards in their squad who have scored more than 40 international goals, with Almoez Ali leading the way with 61 from 132 appearances for the Maroon.
Julen Lopetegui's side may have conceded a mere one goal in four games at the recent Arabian Gulf Cup, but prior to that they shipped ten in three games as they made an early World Cup finals exit.
Alternative Bet: Half with most goals - 2nd @ 2.10
The hosts scored four times in four games as they reached the Arabian Gulf Cup last four, but only one of those strikes came before the half-time interval.
Australia, meanwhile, have only scored in the first 45 minutes of four of their last 12 matches, so the opening exchanges in Doha could be relatively cagey, with several players on both sides trying to forge international careers.
Therefore, go with the second half of this match to produce the most goals.
Qatar v Australia Bet Builder Tip
Australia or Draw - Double Chance
Almoez Ali to score anytime
Either Nestory Irankunda or Tete Yengi to score anytime
Pays 8.25
Australia look to have enough to make sure they avoid defeat at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium, with these two teams having met five times previously and the Socceroos have only lost once.
That was in their only previous international friendly, with the other four World Cup qualifying clashes yielding three wins and a draw.
Almoez Ali featured just once for Qatar at the World Cup finals, as a substitute in the 3-1 loss to Bosnia-Herzegovina, but the Al Duhail striker started twice at the Arabian Gulf Cup and made his mark with a goal in the 1-1 draw with UAE.
His tournament ended on a low as he missed a penalty in the shootout loss to Saudi Arabia and he will be keen to make amends here, while for the Socceroos, taking either Nestory Irankunda or Tete Yengi to score seems to make sense.
Yengi is not the most prolific in front of goal, but Sporting CP forward Irankunda has found the net four times in his last nine outings for Australia and could do so again in Doha.
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Key Match Stats
Australia drew 1-1 and lost 4-2 to Brazil in their only two outings since the World Cup finals
The Socceroos have faced Qatar five times, winning three, drawing one and losing one
Australia have won one, drawn one and lost one of their trips to Qatar
Qatar reached the semi-finals of the Arabian Gulf Cup last month
The Maroon are managed by former Spain and Real Madrid boss Julen Lopetegui
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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.
