Big qualifying points in Melbourne!

In Group C of the Asian World Cup qualifiers, Japan is already going as expected, but the battle for the second direct competition place would seem to be fierce. Australia and Saudi Arabia, who have collected five points per head, will meet on Thursday at the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, and the big points will certainly be shared! Along with this couple, Bahrain, Indonesia and China are also vying for a direct race place, but it is likely that either the Aussies or the Saudis will eventually grab the second place.

Australia at home:

Australia started this qualifying phase under Graham Arnold, but a home defeat to Bahrain and an away defeat against Indonesia broke the camel's back. In Tony Popovic's first two matches, a home victory was taken at the expense of China and a handsome away victory over Japan. So the machine is running again and Australia being left out of the 2026 World Cup would still be a big shock.

Team news:

Alessandro Circati, Connor Metcalfe and Massimo Luongo are sidelined for the November games due to injuries. Instead, the absence of Nestory Irankunda, who plays in the Bayern Munich organization, can be counted as a surprise. Kusini Yengi has served his three-game suspension.

The man at the end of Saudi Arabia's bench recently changed, when Roberto Mancini left his position and Hervé Renard, who reached the reputation of a cult figure in the last World Cup, made a comeback. The Green Hawks have so far only won one single victory from four rounds, and this too came as a guest of China, which has dropped considerably class-wise in recent years. At home, the points have been tied against Bahrain and Indonesia, and in the end, these performances did not suit the country's football association, and Mancini had to pack his bags.

Team news:

The Saudis will have a couple of significant absences on Thursday, as the team's number one star Salem Al-Dawsari and the regular face of the midfield Abdulellah Al-Malki are injured. The team has three players who earn their living in Europe, as AS Roma's Saul Abdulhamid and Beerschot's Faisal Al-Ghamdi and Marwan Al-Sahawi were selected again.

Sounds like a low-scoring affair, or does it? Renard is unlikely to play Saudi Arabia in the big picture with a very defensive winning template, but without Al-Dawsar's contribution, creating goal chances against the Socceroos, who are solid and playing in front of the home crowd, will be difficult in any case. Yet, I choose to go for a higher handicap for more value. Saudis are not going to score, so Australia is good if they score twice, and I see them as capable of that. Good luck!

墨尔本排位赛大积分！

在世界杯亚洲区预选赛的C组，日本队的出线已经符合预期，但争夺第二个直接比赛名额的竞争似乎很激烈。澳大利亚队和沙特阿拉伯队将于周四在墨尔本长方形体育场相遇，他们将共同获得五分！除了这对夫妇，巴林、印度尼西亚和中国也在争夺一个直接的比赛席位，但很可能澳大利亚或沙特最终会获得第二名。

澳大利亚主场：

澳大利亚在格雷厄姆·阿诺德的带领下开始了预选赛阶段，但在主场输给巴林和客场输给印度尼西亚后，骆驼的背就垮了。在托尼波波维奇的前两场比赛中，一场主场胜利是以牺牲中国队为代价的，而一场客场胜利则是对日本队的漂亮胜利。所以这台机器又开始运转了，澳大利亚被排除在2026年世界杯之外仍然是一个巨大的冲击。

团队新闻:

西尔卡蒂、梅特卡夫和卢昂戈将因伤缺席11月的比赛。相反，在拜仁效力的内斯托里·伊兰昆达（Nestory Irankunda）的缺席可以算作是一个惊喜。库西尼·延吉已经停赛三场。

最近，坐在沙特替补席上的人发生了变化，罗伯特·曼奇尼（Roberto Mancini）离开了他的位置，而在上一届世界杯上获得了偶像般的声誉的赫尔维纳尔（herv<s:1> Renard）复出了。到目前为止，绿鹰队在四轮比赛中只赢得了一场胜利，而且这也是中国队的客人，近年来中国队的实力大幅下降。在主场，他们的积分与巴林和印度尼西亚持平，最终，这些表现并不符合国家足协的要求，曼奇尼不得不打包走人。

团队新闻:

沙特将在周四的比赛中有两位重要球员缺席，球队的头号球星塞勒姆·道萨里和中场的主力球员阿卜杜拉·阿尔-马尔基受伤。这支球队有三名在欧洲谋生的球员，罗马的索尔·阿卜杜勒哈米德、比尔肖特的费萨尔·阿尔-哈姆迪和马尔万·阿尔-萨哈维再次入选。

听起来像是低分事件，不是吗？雷纳德不太可能以防守取胜的模式出战沙特阿拉伯，但如果没有达萨尔的贡献，无论如何，在对阵坚实的、在主场观众面前比赛的澳大利亚人的比赛中创造进球机会都将是困难的。然而，我选择更高的障碍，以获得更多的价值。沙特不会进球，所以如果澳大利亚能进两球就很好，我认为他们有能力做到这一点。好运！