Iraq will look to win their third World Cup qualifier on the bounce on Tuesday afternoon when they face regional neighbours Iran at the Al Muharraq Stadium in Bahrain.
Iran could register their fourth straight qualifying win if they can find a way past Iraq, with their last loss coming when these two sides met in qualifying back in November 2019.
Match preview
Iran come into this game on the back of three June qualifiers in which they have picked up nine points and scored 16 goals.
The bulk of those goals came in a crushing 10-0 win over Southeast Asian minnows Cambodia.
Currently second in Group C, Iran now have 15 points to their name and are just two points behind Tuesday's opposition Iraq.
However, the team's loss to Iraq almost two years ago will no doubt linger in the minds of the players, who will hope they have what it takes to get the better of them this time around.
Group leaders Iraq are yet to lose so far in qualifying, and head coach Srecko Katanec will not expect his men to register their first loss on Tuesday.
With 17 points taken from seven matches played, Iraq have sailed through qualification so far and have made a name for themselves.
Last time out against Hong Kong, who have been something of a surprise package this term, Iraq edged a victory, winning 1-0 thanks to an own goal from Fung Hing Wa.
Another three points for Katanec's men on Tuesday would round off what has been an excellent campaign for Iraq.
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Team News
Iran could line up without the likes of Ahmad Nourollahi and Ali Gholizadeh, who were both subbed off against Cambodia.
Kaveh Rezaei, Alireza Jahanbakhsh and Shojae Khalilzadeh are all expected to start after big performances against Cambodia.
Iraq could field the likes of Dhurgham Ismael and Hussein Ali Al-Saedi, who both made solid cameo appearances for the national side last time out.
Bashar Resan was substituted off during that tie but is likely to start this game.
Iran possible starting lineup:
Abedzadeh; Moharrami, Pouraliganji, Khalilzadeh, Mohammadi; Sarlak, Ezatolahi; Jahanbakhsh, Ghoddos, Ghaedi; Taremi
Iraq possible starting lineup:
Hassan; Qasem, Natiq, Khalaf, Adnan; Hadi, Resan, Wasem; Yaseen, Ali, Hussein
We say: Iran 0-1 Iraq
These two nations have been the standout challengers in qualifying, and this could be an interesting encounter between the two. We expect Iraq to edge a result here.
Top tip
Francis Buchanan
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Iran win with a probability of 55.8%. A draw had a probability of 23.3% and a win for Iraq had a probability of 20.89%.
The most likely scoreline for a Iran win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.19%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (9.93%) and 2-1 (9.82%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.07%), while for a Iraq win it was 0-1 (6.24%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with an 11.2% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 1-0 win for Iran in this match.
Iran
Kyrgyzstan
North Korea
Qatar
UAE
Uzbekistan
Iraq
Jordan
Kuwait
Oman
Palestine
South Korea
Australia
Bahrain
China
Indonesia
Japan
Saudi Arabia
