Honduras v Austalia

Given our previous away performances, I would say that the best we can hope for in San Pedro Sulo is a draw or a 0-1 win.

Away	Home
0-1 Win vs UAE	2-0 Win vs Iraq
2-2 Draw vs Saudi Arabia	1-1 Draw vs Japan
2-2 Draw vs Thailand	2-0 Win vs UAE
1-1 Draw vs Iraq	3-2 Win vs Saudi Arabia
0-2 Loss vs Japan	2-1 Win vs Thailand

  
We have not had that sort of strong, sturdy away performance since we played UAE on 6 September 2016. (That said, the 1-1 against Syria was not bad)

Bear in mind that, in terms of our away performances, we:

• Drew 2-2 against Saudi Arabia on 6 October 2016; 
• Drew 2-2 to Thailand on 15 November 2016; 
• Drew 1-1 to Iraq on 23 March 2017; and 
• Lost to Japan 2-0 on 31 August 2017.

Our home wins have also not been huge thrashings. The biggest margin we won by at home in the Third Round of qualification was a 2-0 win against Iraq.

Furthermore, the success we had was early on in the qualifying campaign - before Ange started experimenting.

My prediction is that Honduras will beat us in the first leg. I hope though that they only win by a margin of 1. Eg. 2-1. This might then (based on our recent history) go to penalties because our home wins are not exactly convincing.

However, a draw to Honduras is not out of the question.

Can we break our drought and return to winning ways? It will be interesting to see what kind of character we have.

Andre Lim

PS. There is also an element of "Asian" pride going on here too. This match will, to a limited degree, decide which confederation has it tougher.

PS. 2. I hope Northern Ireland and Ireland go through, although they may not be favourites. Croatia and Greece will be played behind closed doors due to fan violence/clashes. And surely Italy are favourites in their fixture?

PS 3. I hope Peru beat New Zealand, and I think they will.

PS 4. There are also some tight African qualifying games. Ivory Coast and Morroco will be a big one.