Bahrain vs Japan Prediction: Bahrain aiming for unexpected two game wins

Bahrain host Japan at Stad al-Bahrayn al-Watanī in Round 3 of the FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifiers. Bahrain will be looking towards the unexpected two games in a row. Who shall come out on top after 90 minutes?

Coached by Dragan Talajic, this was one of Bahrain's best-ever performances as they won 1-0 on the Gold Coast, decided by Harry Souttar's late own goal. Coming into the game, Bahrain had failed to win in any of four previous meetings with an in-form Australia, which had won 11 of its last 13 games. This, then, was the final outcome-although one which many would consider a surprise in light of how the two teams had performed. With nine more matches still to be contended, this may not be exactly the way Talajic would have wished the qualifying phase to end for Bahrain, with his country in an automatic qualification position for the 2026 World Cup. This unexpected win in points places Bahrain in an enviable position in the scramble for fourth place behind Japan, Australia, and Saudi Arabia in their group. A fourth-place finish would send one of the smaller nations into the final group phase, thus probably including teams that have never qualified for the finals. Bahrain will be fighting it out with Indonesia and China for the remaining top-four spot, and while Indonesia did manage to pull off a stunning draw against Saudi Arabia recently, Bahrain's victory in Australia really should give them some advantage. Next up is Japan, fresh from an impressive 7-0 win against China. Japan is the only team Bahrain have lost to in their last eight matches, their previous defeat coming in the round of 16 of the Asian Cup earlier this year.

Lutfalla; Emmanuel, Baqer, Benaddi, Al-Khalasi; Madan, Haram, Al Asfoor, Marhoon; Al Aswad, Hasan

Japan hasn't been exactly lucky during recent visits to Bahrain. They have lost two out of their last three matches. Yet despite that, Japan has emerged victorious from 10 of the 11 matches contested between the two nations, and the odds will be firmly stacked in their favour. Australia and Saudi Arabia have already dropped points in the campaign and Japan's 7-0 success has put them in a good position to achieve one of the top two places on offer, thereby avoiding the necessity of going through the fourth stage. After a rather disastrous Asian Cup campaign, Japan are determined to sail through into the World Cup with much comfort. They have managed this mission so far, winning all four games without conceding a goal, netting a total of 18 goals since their elimination in the Asian Cup.

Suzuki; Itakura, Taniguchi, Machida; Ito, Morita, Endo, Mitoma; Kubo, Minamino, Maeda

Off the back of an impressive away win, Bahrain should obviously not be in a position to repeat that success as Japan has established themselves as one of the more powerful teams. This is especially so given Japan's opening game 7-0 thumping of China evidenced them to be the team to stop in the group and therefore the overwhelming favorites for yet another win.