A fantastic day of action at the FIFA World Cup on Saturday begins in Al Wakrah as the second games in Group D get going with the African side Tunisia taking on Australia in what is do or die for both teams you suspect.
There was no joy in terms of a win for either side in their first match so they both know this is one that they can’t afford to lose and probably need to win if they are going to keep their qualifying chances realistic.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live and in full on the BBC 1 channel in the UK where a very short build-up begins at 9.45am ahead of the kick off for the day coming at 10am.
Tunisia
Tunisia went into their opening game as the outsiders to beat Denmark and to be fair to them they put on a solid performance in which they had a good organisation and generally kept things tight for the most part but couldn’t really create too much to threaten a win over the Danes. Nevertheless, it was a positive start for the African side but the tables turn on them here and they are now the favourites who are expected to win and take the game to the opposition.
It will be interesting to see how they go about that because as a general rule they are not the most free scoring of teams and they are not a team who are used to having the ball so whether they can get comfortable under the different expectation will be key. They will need to find a way of getting their better players involved in the game more if they are going to win this match, and given they have holders France in their final match you would think they do need to win here.
Australia
I thought Australia gave a decent account of themselves in the first match against the reigning champions France and there were certainly enough positives for them to take into this one to suggest they can find the win they need to really stay alive in the event. They took the lead against the French, which in hindsight might not have been the best thing they could have done, at least not as early as they did, as it just woke the bear.
The positive for Australia is that there is no Olivier Giroud, Antoine Griezmann or Kylian Mbappe up against them here so they can press high light they tried to do at times against France and not necessarily pay the price for it at the other end. We saw in that opening game that when Australia do attack they are confident enough to get plenty of men in the box and that might just be significant as they go about getting the win they need to stay alive.
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Team News
Tunisia left Wahbi Khazri out of their opening draw with Denmark but with them having much of the play without really creating anything, the former Sunderland forward might be picked from the start in this one.
Australia went into battle with France without their main playmaker Ajdin Hrustic but coach Graham Arnold has suggested he is 95% fit now after his ankle injury and given the magnitude of the game he is expected to start.
Betting
Tunisia have really shortened up since the opening matches in this group and they have done so to the extent that Australia might actually be value here. Tunisia had a lot of the game against Denmark in their first match but they only had one shot on target and that might well have been flagged offside had it gone in. I repeat what I said ahead of that opener. I’m not convinced there are many goals in this Tunisia side and while the Danish defence is decent, there was no evidence of any magic to unlock a defence in that game.
Australia go into this match off the back of a good hiding against France but France are a special team with a lot more firepower than Tunisia possess. Where Australia were impressive was going forward. The scored against France and hit the post and had that gone a few inches the other way they could have gone into the break level with the world champions. Tunisia are known for being tight at the back but at some point they are going to have to open up here because a draw does them no good at all and with the attacking options Australia have they could be able to take advantage at a decent price in much the same way Iran did against Wales on Friday.
Tips
Back Australia to beat Tunisia for a 3/10 stake at 3.90 with Betfair
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