Lebanon vs Australia Prediction & Betting Tips - World Cup

Prediction published on 24/03/2024, 05:45  by Devesh Jaganath | Modified on 25/03/2024 at 20:45 in World Cup Prediction

Gamweek four of the AFC World Cup Qualifiers will see Lebanon playing host to Australia on Tuesday morning. The hosts are in third place in Group I, while the visitors currently lead the group standings. Ranked 115th in the world according to FIFA, Lebanon entered this group as one of the lesser fancied to secure qualification but are still well in the running. They are currently on two points after their first three matches and trail second-placed Palestine by two points. The Cedars got their qualification campaign started with back-to-back draws against Palestine and Bangladesh in their first two matches back in November but were no match for this opponent on Thursday when they were defeated 2-0 at the CommBank Stadium. With that result, Lebanon extended their winless run to five matches in all competitions, including four losses and a draw. The last time they won a match was against Jordan in a friendly back in December. While the hosts are unbeaten in their last four home games (W2 D2 L0), they are still massive outsiders in this match. 

Meanwhile, Australia are now ranked 22nd in the world according to FIFA rankings and are the fourth-highest-ranked side in the AFC region behind Japan, Iran and Korea Republic. As a result, it comes as no surprise that they are heavily fancied to top Group I in this competition. So far, the Socceroos have been perfect, notching up three consecutive wins to lead the group with nine points, already five clear of the team in second. They kicked off their qualification campaign in the best way possible, smashing in seven goals without response against Bangladesh. That was followed by a 1-0 win over Palestine before their 2-0 home win over this opponent last week. In the previous edition of the AFC Asian Cup, Australia reached the quarter-final before losing to South Korea in extra time. That defeat stands as the only one they have conceded in their last ten games in all competitions dating back to October last year. The Socceroos have won all three of their matches against this opponent in the past, outscoring them 8-0 in that time.