As the teams reach the midway point of the third round of qualifiers, we shine the spotlight on some of the key talking points from Matchdays 3 and 4 as well as look forward to some of the key upcoming games. <\/p>\n
Matchday 3 Most Picked Outcomes:
\nAustralia to beat China PR \u2013 \u06f9\u06f4\u066b\u06f6\u06f0%
\nQatar to beat Kyrgyz Republic \u2013 \u06f9\u06f2\u066b\u06f4\u06f4%
\nIraq to beat Palestine \u2013 \u06f8\u06f8\u066b\u06f8\u06f4%
\nUAE to beat DPR Korea \u2013 \u06f8\u06f6\u066b\u06f3\u06f7%
\nJapan to beat Saudi Arabia \u2013 \u06f7\u06f3\u066b\u06f3\u06f8% <\/p>\n
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\nDPR Korea\u2019s determination pays off in Abu Dhabi
\nAnother matchday, another solid outing from DPR Korea. Although opponents United Arab Emirates were backed by more than 86% of all our Match Predictor participants, the East Asian side fought hard to register a point on the road in Abu Dhabi.
\nTrailing by a goal with just under five minutes remaining, substitute Jong Il-gwan\u2019s powerful header found its way across the goalline before UAE goalkeeper Khalid Eisa could parry it out.
\nThe visitors could have grabbed all three points given they had more than double the home team’s chances. Nonetheless, their resilient effort has helped secure back-to-back draws against West Asian powerhouses Qatar and the UAE on Matchdays 2 and 3. <\/p>\n
New-look Aussies stop Japan
\nAfter picking up his first victory as the new Socceroos head coach against China PR on Matchday 3, Tony Popovic was handed a tough task in his second game as Australia visited red-hot Japan in Saitama. The Samurai Blue boasted a perfect three wins from three with a +14 goal difference and were yet to concede prior to kick-off.
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\nThat all changed though when Japan defender Shogo Taniguchi miskicked Lewis Miller\u2019s cross into his own net shortly before the hour mark. The Socceroos\u2019 superb defence was finally breached with less than 15 minutes to go as this time Cameron Burgess put into his own goal, but Australia departed Japan with a very commendable 1-1 draw.
\nThe result meant that Popovic\u2019s men stunned 91.34% of Match Predictor users who backed Japan as they picked up a vital point away from home. Talk about a result!
\nEditor\u2019s Matchday 5\/6 Preview & Tips
\nNot long to go until the AFC Asian Qualifiers\u2122 Road to 26 Matchdays 5 and 6 get going so we\u2019re here to give you some insights into the games to look out for in your upcoming predictions.
\nAymen Hussein and Iraq to edge Jordan
\nIraq to beat Jordan
\nIn what will be a rematch of one of the most dramatic AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023\u2122 games earlier this year when the sides met in the Round of 16, Iraq are set to welcome Jordan to Basra International Stadium on November 14.
\nTwo of the most prolific players in the third round to date, Iraq\u2019s Aymen Hussein and Jordan\u2019s Yazan Al Naimat, will face off as they aim to continue their scoring streaks. The former has netted a whopping 13 goals in 10 consecutive appearances for Iraq, while the latter has bagged braces against both Palestine and Oman in the third round of qualifiers to lead the way in the scoring charts.
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\nFrom a head-to-head perspective, of the last 10 meetings between the two countries dating back to late 2012, Iraq have triumphed on six occasions. Two games ended level while Jordan prevailed in the other two, most recently the incredible last-gasp 3-2 victory at the AFC Asian Cup when both Hussein and Al Naimat were on the scoresheet.
\nWe expect a high-scoring affair when these two rivals lock horns on Matchday 5, but given Iraq\u2019s strong head-to-head record against the Jordanians, the hosts could well be victorious here.
\nJapan to complete double over China PR
\nJapan to beat China PR
\nWhen you talk about one-sided domination in Asian football, Japan\u2019s undefeated streak against China PR truly stands out! The Samurai Blue boast an undefeated record against their East Asian rivals that stretches back more than 26 years.
\nOn Matchday 1, Japan stormed to a 7-0 victory at Saitama Stadium in a game that saw five second-half goals and six different players on the scoresheet as the Japanese blew China away.
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\nAlthough Branko Ivankovic\u2019s China clinched their first victory and first points of the campaign thanks to a 2-1 home win over Indonesia on Matchday 4 and Japan dropped points at home to Australia on the same day, the Samurai Blue have been consistently good for a long time, as proven by their rise – up to 15th – in the latest FIFA World Rankings.
\nThe sides meet in Xiamen on November 19, and we\u2019re leaning towards a third successive away victory for Japan in Group C having already claimed maximum points in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As the teams reach the midway point of the third round of qualifiers, we shine the spotlight on some of the key talking points from Matchdays 3 and 4 as well as look forward to some of the key upcoming games. Matchday 3 Most Picked Outcomes: Australia to beat China PR \u2013 \u06f9\u06f4\u066b\u06f6\u06f0% Qatar to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":1041456,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20967],"tags":[3733,28042],"class_list":["post-1041455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-afc-news","tag-afc","tag-afc-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1041455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1041455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1041455\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1041456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1041455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1041455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1041455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}