Battling it out in their only fixtures of October's international break, Asian rivals Malaysia and India will meet at Bukit Jalil National Stadium on Friday night in a friendly match.
The hosts have played non-competitive games exclusively since January as they prepare for World Cup qualification and the Asian Cup, whereas India come into this clash after collecting silverware in the summer.
Match preview
With their World Cup qualification campaign kicking off with the visit of Kyrgyzstan on November 16, Malaysia are coming towards the end of a flurry of friendly fixtures since their exit of the AFF Championship in January.
Harimau Malaya got the better of Singapore, Myanmar and Laos in the group stages to earn a semi-final clash with Thailand, although Friday's hosts were knocked out at the last-four stage due to a disappointing 3-0 loss in the second leg on January 10.
Since then, Malaysia enjoyed a six-game unbeaten streak throughout a period of friendly matchups, with September seeing the national share the hypothetical spoils with Syria and China.
Kim Pan-gon's men showed their ruthless touch in the summer, beating Solomon Islands 4-1 before dismantling Papua New Guinea 10-0 on June 20 - the country's biggest victory since they beat the Philippines by the same scoreline in 1980.
Possessing the world's second-largest population, India are on a mission to finally grace football's greatest occasion, with their World Cup qualification journey commencing with matches against Kuwait and 2022 hosts Qatar next month.
The nine-time SAFF Championship winners collected their latest title in that particular competition in the summer during a home tournament, beating the aforementioned Kuwait on penalties after Lallianzuala Chhangte's second-half strike forced the game to be decided from 12 yards out.
September's international break saw the Blue Tigers suffer penalty-shootout defeat in a friendly clash with Iraq, before a trip to Lebanon ended in a 1-0 defeat due to a late Mahdi Al Zain goal.
India are currently sitting 102nd in the FIFA World Rankings, with Friday's hosts Malaysia 134th despite the Blue Tigers being unbeaten in the last three meetings, albeit the most recent was in 2011.
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Team News
Malaysia are expected to hand another start to Faisal Halim on Friday night, with the 25-year-old producing a stellar display and a sixth goal for his nation in the draw against China last month.
Dion Cools should form a central-defensive partnership with Dominic Tan - the Buriram United defender has enjoyed an unbeaten start in the top division of Thailand so far in 2023-24.
With only two strikers named in India's squad for the international break, it is highly likely that Sunil Chhetri will lead the line for the visitors on Friday, as the 39-year-old continues to set an example after two decades of international football.
Since breaking through at Kerala Blasters in 2014, Sandesh Jhingan has been a regular fixture for the Blue Tigers, and he should earn his 54th cap for his country in this one.
Malaysia possible starting lineup:
Hazmi; Davies, Tan, Cools, Corbin-Ong; Endrick, Gan, Halim, Josue, Rashid; Lok
India possible starting lineup:
Sandhu; Poojari, Jhingan, Ali, Mishra; Singh, Thapa, Chhangte, Samad, Kuruniyan; Chhetri
We say: Malaysia 0-1 India
Malaysia have enjoyed a decent unbeaten run since their AFF Championship exit in January, but the visit of India on Friday night is set to be a difficult assignment.
The Blue Tigers will be targeting more silverware after their SAFF success in the summer, and we believe Chhetri and company will squeeze past their hosts in Kuala Lumpur.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Carter White
