Syria v Qatar Betting Tips: Syrians to keep World Cup dreams alive

16:46, 30 aug 2017
16:46, 30 aug 2017
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On the face of it, this Asian qualification match between Syria and Qatar may seem like an affair without much riding on it in a sporting context. However, although Qatar can no longer qualify, Syria still have a decent chance of making the next round.

Syria’s football team has been a nice distraction for the Syrian people during the terrible civil war of the last few years. They have been on a tremendous run during this qualification campaign and managed to win six of their first eight qualifying games. Although they have had mixed results recently, a win on Thursday puts them right back in the mix.

The Qasioun Eagles managed to find the back of the net an incredible 26 times in their first eight qualification games, however, they have now just scored four in their last eight – the worst record in Group A. Having said that, they have tightened up at the back recently with just three goals conceded in their last four as opposed to the 11 they conceded in the previous qualification round.

Ayman Hakeem’s men are of course playing their home matches outside of Syria. Having said that, the national team still has an excellent following of expats at all of these different venues; helping the team go unbeaten in all but one of their ‘home’ games during this qualification campaign. Additionally, they have kept four clean sheets in their last five ‘home’ outings.

In terms of competitive matches, Qatar have been poor in the last year or so with just two wins in World Cup Qualifying since March 2016. This means it is now almost impossible for them to qualify for Russia 2018 and will probably have to wait another four years to qualify for a World Cup – when they host it in 2022.

The Qataris have been slightly better in the final third than Syria with six goals in eight games as opposed to Syria’s four. However, the fact they have kept just two clean sheets in their last nine shows where their frailties lie.

Competitive away form has been a huge problem for The Maroons in the last year with just one point taken from a possible 15 outside of Qatar and just two goals scored in that time.

Despite the fact that Syria have had mixed results of late, I expect them to come out on top here. Qatar are terrible on the road and have very little to play for. Conversely, Syria have everything to play for – not only on the pitch but for the people off it. Syria to Win is priced at 127/100.

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