Turkey VS Iran Match Prediction
- 2018-05-28
- 18:15:00
Draw will win this match.
This will be the very first time that these two nations have met at this level of football.
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Bet365 have the following odds available for this match:
Turkey are at evens, a draw is at 11/2, and a Saudi Arabia win is at 18/1.
Turkey continued to be one of the most frustrating nations on the earth during qualification in Europe this past cycle. They always seem to have talent, but they are very inconsistent, and it showed this time. They were in a much more difficult group than they would have maybe originally anticipated, but they still only managed to finish in fourth, seven points off an automatic place in Russia and five off of a potential playoff. On the other hand, Iran might have had the easiest path of anytime besides the hosts themselves. Iran won six of its eight matches in the third round of qualification in Asia, going unbeaten. They would then go into Group A of the fourth and final round and dominate the group, picking up 22 points and also failing to lose a single game there, all the while only conceding two goals in ten outings.
Turkey have three wins, three draws, and four losses to their record in the past year. They are generally very good at home, but they let themselves down a bit when Iceland came there and beat them 0-3. On top of that, they lost to Albania in Antalya back in November as well. Since then, though, they have a win and a draw in their last two games, so things could be starting to look up again for the Turks. As for Iran, they have eight wins, three draws, and just one loss in the last year. The only loss came at the hands of Tunisia at home by a single goal to nil back in March. It isn't a terrible loss, as the Tunisians are headed to Russia as well. Since that defeat, they have won back-to-back matches, defeating both Uzbekistan and Algeria at home.
Iran rarely give up goals, and that is something that has to have them fairly confident, even if it is somewhat quietly, ahead of the World Cup. They can cause a lot of problems, and they will prove tricky for the Turks.
Mircea Lucescu has called in almost the exact same squad that featured in the last set of friendlies. All of the starters from their match at Montenegro have been included with the exception of midfielder Okay Yokuslu. It's quite an exciting team, with most of the players well under 30 years of age.
One such player that is under 30 is striker Cenk Tosun. The Everton man didn't exactly have the best of times in his first few months in England, yet he still managed to score a few goals and show fans of the club that he will be very good for them under the right management. He was lights out for Besiktas in Champions League group stage play, and he's scored eight times for the Turks so far to suggest he's their biggest and brightest threat of many.
Turkey have two draws, a win, and two losses in their last five matches:
2-2 draw at Montenegro
1-0 home win vs Ireland
2-3 loss at Albania
2-0 loss at Romania
2-2 draw at Finland (WCQ)
Carlos Queiroz should be making quite a number of changes for this match after the win over Uzbekistan a couple of weeks back. He played a largely changed squad then, and some of the players in that squad have not been included for the World Cup or these friendlies. So changes, and a return to a much stronger lineup, should be on the cards here.
Somehow Iran have managed to build a very capable defensive unit despite having much stronger and bigger names up front. It's quite a strange phenomena, but it points to a togetherness and team spirit that is put first. But at the World Cup, that will only get you so far. To go as far as possible, you need to get goals and that can be gotten from Rubin Kazan striker Sardar Azmoun, who has already notched an impressive 23 in 31 caps at the age of just 23.
Iran have four wins and a loss in their last five matches:
1-0 home win vs Uzbekistan
2-1 home win vs Algeria
1-0 loss at Tunisia
4-0 home win vs Sierra Leone
0-1 win at Venezuela