The AFC Asian Cup is well underway, and though it has mainly made headlines in Britain because of key players in both the Premier League and Scottish Premiership leaving their clubs to compete in the United Arab Emirates, there has been some great action so far.
This is a bumper edition of the AFC Asian Cup. The number of teams has expanded to 24 and whilst some had concerns that the addition of smaller nations would make the group stages less competitive there have been plenty of football betting shocks. Which has been perfect for those looking for some big odds football bets.
We’re on the verge of the beginning of the knockout stages, so now is a great time to have a take a look back at the first couple of weeks of the AFC Asian Cup, pick out the biggest shocks and see who represents betting value in our outright winner odds comparison.
Arnold Left With a Lot of Work to Do
Australia were knocked out of the group stage of the World Cup but their performances in Russia were better than many feared. Much of the credit for that went to temporary manager, Bert van Marwijk, who whipped the Socceroos into shape very quickly.
Graham Arnold has not had such an immediate impact. Australia were seeded in the first pot and went into their opening Asian Cup match with Jordan as the favourites in the football odds but lost in what was a real betting shock.
For every loser there is a winner though and Jordan followed that win up with another against Syria to book their place in the knockout stage. Jordan’s betting odds to win the tournament remain relatively high at a best price of 50/1 but their performances thus far will give them confidence for the huge matches around the corner.
Big Win Sets Iran Up Nicely
Carlos Queiroz has been winning praise for the job he’s done as Iran manager for a while now. Many pundits believed that Iran were the strongest Asian team at the 2018 World Cup before a ball was kicked and although they narrowly missed out on a place in the round of 16, Iran certainly did themselves proud.
Iran have built their recent successes around a fearsome defensive unit. Every team who faces them in the UAE will have to work hard for chances but Iran’s own lack of attacking intent is a common criticism. That is why their fans were so delighted with their impressive 5-0 win over Yemen.
Iran followed that thumping win up with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Vietnam to ensure safe passage to the knockout stages before their final match in Group D against Iraq. That their forwards are in such good form and that Queiroz allowed them to play with relative freedom was surprising to many and could suggest that Iran are going to have an excellent tournament.
Qatari Confidence is Growing
This is a massive tournament for Qatar as they look to continue improving ahead making their World Cup debut on home soil in 2022. The way in which the country has gone about securing talented players from around the world is by no means universally popular but the Qatari authorities will be happy with what they’ve seen from the team so far in the UAE.
Our odds comparison suggested that Qatar were always likely to beat North Korea but the 6-0 scoreline was still a surprise. Added to the 2-0 win over Lebanon, that win did wonders for the confidence of Felix Sanchez Bas and his players which could see them make an impact at the business end of the tournament.
Joint Favourites Worthy of Support
When talking about teams with confidence it is impossible to ignore South Korea. They are the favourites in the football betting to win the AFC Asian Cup and finally put their defeat to Australia in the 2015 tournament behind them.
South Korea kicked off the tournament with two professional 1-0 wins. The bookmakers expect them to get even stronger with the addition of Son Heung-min and it is no surprise they are the joint favourites with Iran at 3/1.
Japan and Saudi Arabia are coming in for support in the football betting but other than a small stakes play on Jordan at 50/1 it may be best to wait a little while to see how the quarter finals shape up before making more moves in the outright betting.