Saudi Arabia VS Pakistan

Saudi Arabia welcome Pakistan for this Asia World Championship Second Stage Round 1 clash at Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium in Dammam. There are four countries in this group - the other two countries being Jordan and Tajikistan. The top-2 countries qualify for the World Championship qualification 3rd stage. Saudi Arabia are clearly the best team in this group – no doubt about that! We cannot expect a particularly good-level - or entertaining game by international standards here. Indeed, Saudi Arabia are massive favourites here. Some bookmakers do not even offer odds on the home win at all! Most bookies offer odds of around 1.01. Yes, it would be a huge surprise if the Saudis failed to win this but surely 1.01 is way too low! We will go for the gigantic +5.5 goals handicap option on Pakistan. Odds of around 1.75 are widely available at the time of posting. The chance of winning is 65%. Yes, the Saudis have a very big edge in all areas of the game. The difference between the teams is bigger in terms of offensive quality than defensive quality. Indeed, Pakistan have really struggled to score in international games. Their offensive players lack speed and individual skill for this level. Here their chance of scoring even once is only 28-29%. However, we of course do not need them to score here to win the pick - 7th in row! Pakistan are expected to defend with 10 or perhaps even all 11 men - mainly relying on fast counter attacks, corner kicks, free kicks – or a possible penalty kick to net the ball here.

The visitors' defence, on the other hand, is better than the bookies and probably most recreational bettors seem to realize! Indeed, they last allowed more than five goals in 2009! Of course the opponents have also been worse than Saudi Arabia though. Yes, the Pakistani defenders are limited in terms of individual skill but the defensive structure is actually pretty good which helps a lot. The Pakistani players are very proud playing for their country and I expect them to keep fighting even if they were to end up trailing by a margin of many goals. If teams finish on equal points at the end of the season, score difference will be the tie-breaker. The hosts currently occupy the 57th place in the FIFA Ranking. This is slightly too high in my expert opinion. Pakistan, on the other hand, are in 193rd place. This is too low! I would say that 165-170 would be a more realistic place in the ranking. Football is not the biggest sport in Pakistan and never probably will be but they still want to raise the level of football. Saudi Arabia have not won any of their last eight games. Rather interestingly they have lost seven of their most recent eight games, Most of my fans probably still remember the Saudis beating Argentina 2-1, the reigning World Champions, in the World Cup in Qatar last year, This probably still affects the odds. We must remember that it was a very lucky win, Argentina dominated the game, recording 14 goal attempts – the Saudis had only three. In their last game the hosts lost to Mali 1-3 at a neutral location, Estádio Municipal de Portimão, Portugal. Mali were the better team and deserved a win in this friendly. Before this they were lucky to get a draw at the same stadium in another friendly. It was a 2-2 draw against Nigeria. The Africans recorded 16 goal attempts – the Saudis had only four. Nigeria also recorded many more shots on goal shots off target, attacks and dangerous attacks. Pakistan beat Cambodia 1-0 in their last game at Jinnah Stadium in Islamabad in a match that most bookies saw as a pretty balanced one at the time of kick off. It was a qualification first stage final second leg. In the first leg Pakistan were massive underdogs – priced around 7.00 to win by the majority the bookmakers - but defended very well! It was a goalless draw in the end.

沙特VS巴基斯坦

沙特阿拉伯欢迎巴基斯坦参加在达曼穆罕默德·本·法赫德王子体育场举行的亚洲杯第二阶段第一轮比赛。这一组有四个国家，另外两个国家是约旦和塔吉克斯坦。前2名的国家有资格参加世锦赛第三阶段的资格赛。毫无疑问，沙特阿拉伯是这个小组中最好的球队!按照国际标准，我们不能期待一场特别高水平或有趣的比赛。事实上，沙特阿拉伯是这里的大热门。有些博彩公司甚至根本不提供主场获胜的赔率!大多数博彩公司给出的赔率在1.01左右。是的，如果沙特没能赢得这场比赛，那将是一个巨大的惊喜，但1.01肯定太低了!我们将为巴基斯坦提供5.5个进球的巨大障碍选项。在发布时，1.75左右的赔率广泛可用。获胜的几率是65%。是的，沙特在比赛的所有领域都有很大的优势。两支球队在进攻质量上的差异大于防守质量。事实上，巴基斯坦在国际比赛中确实很难得分。他们的进攻球员在这个水平上缺乏速度和个人技术。在这里，他们得分的几率只有28-29%。然而，我们当然不需要他们在这里得分来赢得选秀权-连续第七次!预计巴基斯坦将以10人甚至全部11人防守——主要依靠快速反击、角球、任意球——或者可能的点球将球打进。

另一方面，客队的防守比博彩公司和大多数娱乐投注者似乎意识到的要好!事实上，他们上一次失球超过5个还是在2009年!当然，对手也比沙特阿拉伯更糟糕。是的，巴基斯坦后卫在个人技术方面是有限的，但防守结构实际上非常好，这有很大帮助。巴基斯坦球员非常自豪为自己的国家效力，我希望他们继续战斗，即使他们最终落后了很多球。如果两队在赛季结束时得分相等，则得分差将成为决胜局。东道主目前在国际足联排名中排名第57位。以我的专业意见，这个价格有点太高了。另一方面，巴基斯坦排在第193位。这太低了!我认为165-170会是一个更现实的排名。足球不是巴基斯坦最大的运动，也永远不会是，但他们仍然想提高足球水平。沙特阿拉伯在最近的8场比赛中没有赢过一场。有趣的是，他们在最近的8场比赛中输掉了7场。我的大多数球迷可能还记得去年卡塔尔世界杯上，沙特2-1击败了卫冕世界冠军阿根廷队，这可能仍然影响着赔率。我们必须记住，这是一场非常幸运的胜利，阿根廷统治了比赛，有14次射门，而沙特只有3次。在上一场比赛中，东道主在中立场地Estádio Municipal de portim<e:1> o输给了马里队。马里是一支更好的球队，应该在这场友谊赛中获胜。在此之前，他们很幸运地在同一球场的另一场友谊赛中取得了平局。尼日利亚队以2比2战平。非洲人有16次射门，而沙特人只有4次。尼日利亚也记录了更多的射正、射偏、攻击和危险攻击。巴基斯坦在伊斯兰堡真纳体育场的最后一场比赛中以1比0击败柬埔寨，大多数博彩公司在开球时都认为这是一场相当平衡的比赛。这是预选赛第一阶段决赛次回合。在第一回合的比赛中，巴基斯坦队是一大不被看好的球队——大多数博彩公司开出的赔率在7.00左右——但他们防守得非常好!最后是一场0比0的平局。