Palestine vs Australia Predictions

Palestine have a point on the board following a goalless draw in the first round of fixtures against Syria, despite being reduced to ten-men in the second half. Friday’s opponents Australia suffered a disappointing defeat to Jordan last time out, which means they head into Friday’s game bottom of Group B.

Syria completed dominated the ninety minutes against Palestine and only picking up a point agains the supposed whipping boys of the group could come back to haunt them. Palestine only had 37% of the possession against Syria, one corner, no shots on target, and just three shots off target during the ninety minutes. Palestine made themselves tough to beat and even after being reduced to ten-men following the sixty-eighth minute sending-off of Mohammed Saleh, the underdogs held firm and earned a share of the spoils. Friday will see the Palestine defence tested even more by a strong Australia side and it will be interesting to see how that match pans out.

Australia did everything but score against Jordan on Sunday, and paid the ultimate price by losing the game 1-0. The favourites had a massive 73% of the overall possession, nine corners, eight shots on target, and eleven shots off target, but just could not find the back of the Jordan net. Anas Bani Yassen scored what turned out to be the winning goal for Jordan in the twenty-sixth minute with a rare effort on target. Australia are likely to make changes to their starting lineup on Friday, especially up front where their finishing was simply not good enough and certainly cost the favourites all three points.

Palestine don’t carry much of a goal threat if their last five internationals are anything to go by. Against Syria and Iraq, Palestine failed to score, while their games against Kyrgyzstan, Iran, and China PR saw them score just once in each game. Australia have a string defensive record of late with three clean sheets in their last five international against Oman, Lebanon, and Kuwait, with all of those games ending in victory for the Aussies.

Australian head into Friday;s game as the clear form favourites after they picked up three wins, one draw, and one defeat from their last five matches, while Palestine have managed three draws and two defeats during that same period of games. Jonathan Cantillana and Sameh Maraaba both have nine international goals to their name for Palestine, while captain Abdelatif Bahdari has scored eight times, and Yashir Islame has netted six in twelve appearances for his country. Hertha Berlin forward Mathew Leckie has nine goals for Australia, while teammate Tom Rogic is on eight goals, and Massimo Luongo and captain Mark Milligan have both chipped in with five goals apiece.

We’re confident that Australia will win to nil on Friday, and have backed the final scoreline to end 2-0. Palestine have failed to score in two of their last three matches, and are without a win in their last five internationals. Australia have won three of their last five international matches, and Each of the Aussie’s last three wins have all been accompanied by a clean sheet.