Iran vs Oman Predictions

Iran came into the Asian Cup as one of the favourites to go all the way and thus far, they’ve not disappointed. Team Melli breezed through the groups, winning twice and drawing against Iraq once qualification was already guaranteed. Oman made less easy work of getting to this stage, so Carlos Queiroz’s men will fancy themselves to advance without too much fuss.

Having made light work of negotiating safe passage to the knockouts, Iran will be delighted to have drawn Oman. The Iranians haven’t beaten much yet, but they’ve come under absolutely no pressure defensively, while their opponents on Sunday have looked dodgy at the back on a few occasions.

Iran were expected to go deep into this tournament before the off and they’ve since  made it this far without breaking sweat, things are looking good. Though it’s tough to know how good they are at present, simply because they’re yet to be tested. That fact alone is positive, though it will be interesting to see how they fare if they do come up against another of the fancied sides such as Japan or South Korea. For now though, the Iranians look strong; they’ve created plenty going forward, have shown good end-product, while they’ve made nullifying their opponents look easy.

Unlike Iran, who walked through the groups in second gear, Oman snuck through thanks to a win on match-day three against a very poor Turkmenistan side. On that occasion, the Reds looked good; they created plenty of opportunities and scored three goals, though the fact that they conceded against very weak opposition doesn’t exactly bode well ahead of a match against a strong Iranian side. What’s more, the way in which Oman were dominated by Japan on match-day two suggests that they will find it tough to contain Iran, who find it easy to put teams under pressure.

However, while Oman, who’re yet to keep a clean sheet at this tournament, haven’t exactly defended well enough to suggest that they can keep Iran at bay, they have shown several moments of promise going forward. Iran are yet to concede in UAE, but they did concede a few opportunities against Vietnam on the break, so an Oman goal in this fixture is far from beyond the realms of possibility, especially since they’re averaging a pleasing 1.65 expected goals for at this tournament.

In the betting, there are two angles of attack to be taken. Firstly, ‘Iran -1 Handicap’ stands out. Prior to match-day three, by which time they’d already qualified, the Iranians looked menacing going forward, while they gave the impression that they had plenty more to give. Oman have looked quite open at the back; they’ve conceded against teams much weaker than Iran, while they should’ve lost about 5-0 when facing Japan, such was the number of scoring opportunities that they conceded.

Secondly, ‘Both Teams to Score’ is tough to resist at what appears to be a hefty price. Although the Iranians should have too much quality, it would be no surprise if they were breached for the first time. Oman have shown promise going forward, while Iran have given the impression that it won’t take too much to catch them out defensively.