Jordan vs Australia
14th November 1600hrs
Football – International – Asian World Cup Qualifying
Pick Australia
Bookmaker Coral
Odds: 4/5 odds taken 2000 GMT, Wednesday 13 November)
It may be three years away but qualification for the 2022 World Cup is well underway in Asia and the top two in Group B clash on Thursday. Jordan will be looking to leapfrog an Australia outfit who have a 100% record so far.
Asia World Cup Qualification Betting at Coral
Jordan Preview – Can Jordan spring an upset and go to the top of the section?
Three games into their World Cup qualification journey and Jordan will feel slightly disappointed that they are not level on points with Australia at the top of the section. A 2-1 win away to Chinese Taipei was more of a struggle than they would have expected but it was a win nonetheless. Jordan followed that with what will would have been a really frustrating goalless draw against the second lowest ranked team in their group, Kuwait. Being at home, it would have been a game they would have been expected to take three points from. To their credit, they bounced back in good fashion a few days later when brushing aside a Nepalese team who despite being the fifth seeds in the group have three points on the board already.
Jordan will feel they have an opportunity to make right the wrong of narrowly missing out on progressing further in the previous Asian World Cup qualification campaign. Despite finishing second on 16 points in that section, they failed to go through as a couple of other runners-up in different sections ended that round of qualifying with one additional point. It’s why they would have been kicking themselves for failing to defeat Kuwait last month.
Australia Preview – Will Australia show their class and make it four straight wins to begin their campaign?
As the fourth highest ranked nation in the AFA, Australia are again one of the favourites to make it through to the World Cup in Qatar. Now under the care of the veteran Graham Arnold, the Kangaroos have made it to the last four finals. That is the aim once again and they have made a strong start to the second round (the stage where the top nations enter) of qualifying. Arnold has been in charge for just over a year and will be pleased with how his team have set out in this campaign considering they scored 15 goals in their three matches and sit a couple of points clear of Jordan in first spot.
A 3-0 win in Kuwait to kick things off before slamming five past Nepal at home and more recently dispatching seven past a hapless Chinese Taipei. Arnold will be well aware that things are going to get harder starting with their trip to Amman on Thursday. A disappointing showing in the Asian Cup at the beginning of the year has put the former Sydney boss under pressure from the outset and he will be looking to close out 2019 with a strong performance and three points to give themselves further breathing space atop of the section.
Key-Facts – Jordan vs Australia
- Jordan have begun the campaign strongly and are unbeaten after three games but they will be annoyed with dropping points at home to Kuwait last month
- It’s been a really positive start for Australia to qualification winning their first three games and scoring 15 goals in the process
- This will be the fourth meeting in four years between Jordan and Australia and the former have won two of the previous three
Jordan vs Australia Betting Advice
It’s fair to say that Jordan are something of a bogey team for Australia. The Jordanians defeated the Kangaroos 2-0 at the same stage back in qualification for the 2018 World Cup with the Aussies getting their own back in the return game, running out 5-1 winners. Jordan were at it again earlier this year, however, pulling off a surprising 1-0 win in the group stage of the Asian Cup. That seem them finish top of the section but their challenge was ended in the first knockout phase whilst Australia crashed out in the quarter finals.
Australia are a touch odds on for this but they will have to work to get all three points. Although it’s likely they will finish ahead of Jordan come the end of the campaign, Arnold’s men will not want any dramas in the early rounds. With that Asian Cup defeat fresh in their memories they will be out to avenge that loss and with the form they have started this campaign in, may have too much firepower for their hosts.
