Qatar v Iran
Qatar

Qatar vs Iran

, KO: 19:15 , Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium
Iran

Qatar will be hoping Group A leaders Iran take their foot of the gas with a World Cup place already in the bag as they bid to give their own hopes of qualification a big boost with a win in Al Rayyan.

The Iranians have done professional job in the third round of Asian qualifying, with six wins and two draws in their eight games so far booking their ticket for the finals in North America next summer.

Qatar currently sit fourth in Group A and that would be enough to send them through to the fourth round of qualifying. With two games to go, they hold a four-point lead over Kyrgyzstan so a win over Iran would be enough to take them through.

After hosting the last World Cup, Qatar are looking to continue their growth by qualifying for the finals in the USA and Canada, with former West Ham and Real Madrid boss Julen Lopetegui now in charge.

They've won three of their four home games in Group A and battered North Korea 5-1 in Doha back in March, so that will give them confidence ahead of Lopetegui's first game in charge.

It's a big step up in class though and Iran boss Amir Ghalenoei has plenty of quality at his disposal even if he decides to give some big hitters a rest.

How the bookies view it: Qatar have the edge

With Iran having nothing to play for, they're 7/4 outsiders for this one, with Qatar BoyleSports' favourites at 13/10. A draw wouldn't be the worst result for the Qataris and it pays 9/4.

Recent head to head: Iran bossing it

Iran romped to a 4-1 win in Tehran when these sides faced off earlier in the group. That avenged a surprise 3-2 loss in last year's Asian Cup, which brought up a goals bet for our man Gabriel, but Iran had won five in a row against Qatar before that.

Players to watch: Ali the danger man

Few players have an international goals record as good as Qatar's Almoez Ali, with the striker netting 60 times from 122 caps. He has scored five times in Group A and could be worth a punt for another goal when the bookies price up an anytime scorer market.

Ghalenoei might use this game to experiment a bit and youngster Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad could get another chance to shine. The midfielder, who plays in Russia for Dynamo Makhachkala, had a decent scoring record at youth level for Iran so could be worth a punt for a goal here.

Probable line-ups

Qatar have defender Lucas Mendes suspended after his red card in their 3-1 loss to Kyrgyzstan. Iran should make a few changes and it will be interesting to see if star striker Mehdi Taremi starts just days after Inter Milan's Champions League battering by PSG in the Champions League Final.

Qatar:  Barsham, Miguel, Suhail, Salman, Boudiaf, Madibo, Hatem, Fathy, Edmilson Junior, Afif, Ali.

Iran: Beiranvand, Hardani, Aghasi , Mohammadi, Khalilzadeh, Ezatolahi,  Ghayedi,  Hashemnezhad, Alipour, Ghoddos, Hosseinnejad.

Anything else catch the eye?

Iran can play with the pressure off while Lopetegui will want to get off to a winning start with Qatar so this should be a decent watch. BTTS is just 8/13 at BoyleSports but adding on over 2.5 goals boosts the odds to 23/20. That bet has landed in seven of Qatar's eight games so far in the group.

Just one of Iran's games in the group has hit double figures for corners so there could be some value in betting on under nine flag kicks at evens with Bet365.

Lopetegui will want his team to start on the front foot so I also like the 10/11 on offer at BoyleSports for Qatar to score first.

Qatar vs Iran Betting Tips & Predictions
BTTS and over 2.5 goals
23/20
Boylesports
Under nine corners
Evens
Bet365
Qatar to score first
10/11
Boylesports
Further Reading
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