Simon Dalton presents his prediction for the World Cup qualifying match.
Kairat have qualified for the UEFA Champions League, which suggests that Kazakhstan can also harbour hopes of success in FIFA World Cup qualifying. The squad will include players from Kairat, buoyed by their European success.
Wales
Wales, second in Group J, travel to Astana. They have played every matchday, whereas Kazakhstan had a bye in one of them. In the five-team group, Wales have scored the most — 10. That is not because of the head-to-head with Liechtenstein (only 3:0), but there was also a high-scoring game against Belgium (3:4). The only outing in which a Total Over did not land for Wales was the match against North Macedonia (1:1).
Kazakhstan
Wales have already faced Kazakhstan in this qualifying campaign: at Cardiff City Stadium the home crowd saw a 3:1 victory for the hosts. They sealed the win only in the 90th minute. Possession was overwhelmingly in Wales’ favour (72%), but Kazakhstan were not far behind on shots (10-12). Accuracy was poor: two shots on target from seven total attempts. In Kazakhstan’s other matches there was a Total Under, but those games came against a very cautious Liechtenstein (2:0) and a near-impenetrable North Macedonia (0:1).
Kazakhstan vs Wales Prediction
We think that it is specifically against Wales that there is a strong chance of seeing plenty of goals in a Kazakhstan game, but we will play it safe and back Total Over 2.
