Australia Outright Winner odds: 500/1 (William Hill)
Betting Tips and Recommended bets with odds
Australia had to go the long way to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, progressing only thanks to home wins in their play-offs against first Syria and then Honduras. They have also departed Russia unsuccessful already in the past 12 months, when they drew two matches and lost to Germany in last summer’s Confederations Cup.
It led to a managerial change, but Bert van Marwijk – whose Saudi Arabia side qualified ahead of Australia to consign the Socceroos to those play-offs – suffered a poor first game in charge when his side were thrashed by Norway in a friendly.
That does not bode well for the Socceroos, especially with France and Denmark expected to beat them in the group stages in Russia, and Peru keen to avoid an early exit too.
Peru, like Australia, squeaked through the play-offs – failing to break down New Zealand in the away leg of their match before winning at home – but that should give the Socceroos some confidence they can avoid last place and another winless tournament at least.
Australia have regularly proved their superiority over New Zealand – prompting their switch to Asian competition, in fact – and they will hope to at least avoid defeat to the South American team.
Australia are as low as 1/5 to fail to advance beyond the group stage – the third consecutive time that will have happened – but a ‘draw no bet’ selection on Australia to beat Peru is 7/5 with Betfair and could prove profitable as their big tournament players look to sign off from the tournament with a morale-boosting win.
Recommended bet
Australia to beat Peru – draw no bet – at 7/5 with Betfair