Australia will look to continue their unbeaten run in World Cup qualification when they face Nepal this week at the Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium in Kuwait.
With six wins out of six for the Socceroos so far during the campaign, you would expect Graham Arnold's men to pick up another three points against regional minnows Nepal.
Match preview
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A team that tends to be leaps and bounds ahead of the opposition in the Asian Football Confederation, Australia rarely struggle during qualification and this season has been no different.
The Socceroos have already won five fixtures by scoring three or more goals, with Arnold's side registering 13 goals across two matches against Chinese Taipei and five goals against Nepal the last time these two teams met in October 2019.
Against Chinese Taipei last time out, Australia won the game 5-1, with Mitchell Duke, Trent Sainsbury, Jamie Maclaren and Harry Souttar all finding the back of the net.
Australia currently top Group B, with 18 points and 24 goals scored.
For the record, the Socceroos have only conceded two goals so far.
In contrast, Nepal are currently fourth in the group, six points better off than last-placed Chinese Taipei following two wins against the group whipping boys.
However, it remains to be seen whether Nepal have what it takes to push on and register points against the tougher teams in the group.
Despite a narrow 1-0 defeat to Kuwait in November 2019, Nepal have been a fairly easy side to dispatch, and that does not look like something that will change when the team face the Socceroos this week.
Nevertheless, Nepal have had a good go of it this time around and head coach Al Mutairi will be pleased with a number of his side's performances.
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Team News
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Australia's squad is a wild amalgam of players from leagues all around the globe, with Riley McGree coming from the English second division and Fran Karacic coming from Serie B in Italy.
Previously uncapped Connor Metcalfe performed well against Chinese Taipei in a cameo appearance and could potentially start this tie.
Nepal could start Arik Bista, Sunil Bal and Nawayug Shrestha after all the players came off the bench during the team's 3-0 defeat to Jordan.
Goalkeeper Rohit Chand is likely to retain his spot between the sticks for Nepal.
Nepal possible starting lineup:
Chand; Lama, Uparkoti, Shrestha, Tamang; Khawas, Bal, A Bista, Aryal; Rai, Riyal
Australia possible starting lineup:
Ryan; Metcalfe, Sainsbury, Good, Behich; Leckie, McGree, Hrustic, Souttar, Grant; Duke
We say: Nepal 0-4 Australia
There is a real gulf in class between these two nations, and we do not think there are many who will be placing bets on Nepal coming out on top. We are going for a big 4-0 scoreline for the Socceroos.
Top tip
Francis Buchanan
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Australia win with a probability of 47.33%. A win for Nepal had a probability of 30.44% and a draw had a probability of 22.2%.
The most likely scoreline for an Australia win was 1-2 with a probability of 9.07%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (6.43%) and 0-2 (6.1%). The likeliest Nepal win was 2-1 (7.12%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (9.57%). The actual scoreline of 0-3 was predicted with a 3.9% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Australia would win this match.
Iran
Kyrgyzstan
North Korea
Qatar
UAE
Uzbekistan
Iraq
Jordan
Kuwait
Oman
Palestine
South Korea
Australia
Bahrain
China
Indonesia
Japan
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