On Saturday afternoon, Malawi and Tunisia clash in Group H of the African section of qualifying for World Cup 2026.
Malawi form guideThe home team kicked off their qualifying campaign with a 1-0 victory in Liberia, which was another low-scoring game, as eight of their previous nine international outings have produced under 2.5 goals.
The victory made a refreshing change for Malawi in World Cup qualifying, as they had lost their previous four qualifiers.
Their games in qualifying have been low-scoring, with under 2.5 goals scored in nine of their last 12 matches.
Malawi has suffered back-to-back home defeats in qualifying against Ivory Coast and Cameroon, in which they conceded at least two goals each.
Despite the poor recent defensive record, their recent home qualifiers have been relatively low-scoring, with under 2.5 goals scored in six of their last nine matches.
Tunisia form guideThe Eagles of Carthage started their qualifying campaign with a 4-0 victory over Sao Tome e Principe.
This win came after two consecutive defeats against South Korea and Japan. The game last time out followed a familiar low-scoring trend, as four of their previous five matches have produced over 2.5 goals.
Tunisia has a stellar recent record in World Cup qualifying, as it made the visitors four qualifiers unbeaten, having recorded three wins and one draw.
The game also continued an excellent recent defensive record in qualifiers, as they have now kept three straight clean sheets in qualifying.
Tunisia has been a hard opponent to beat on their travels in qualifying, as they have lost just once in their previous eight away qualifiers, having recorded five wins in the run.
What am I backing?Both teams made positive starts to their World Cup qualifying campaigns. However, the bet I am backing is the away win, as Tunisia may have slightly more quality than the hosts.