Philippines square off against Nepal on Thursday looking to record a rare victory on the international stage.
In sharp contrast to their hosts, Nepal are on their best run of form in years, creating an intriguing dynamic ahead of the meeting at Rizal Memorial Stadium.
Match preview
When considering that Philippines have not recorded back-to-back wins since 2018, it should not necessarily come as a surprise to read that they have lost seven of their most recent eight fixtures.
Nevertheless, since a 5-1 victory over Brunei at the end of last year, they have lost four games in succession and scored just the one goal.
Ten goals were conceded in away defeats to Thailand, Kuwait and Jordan, although they put in a spirited effort to only lose 2-1 at home to Indonesia.
Michael Weiss has now made his return to a role that he last held between 2011 and 2014, an outstanding 21 wins coming from his 44-game stint a decade or so ago.
While the German will not expect an immediate turnaround on Thursday, he will challenge his players to upset opponents who have built a head of steam.
Before their recent run, Nepal had not gone more than two games without suffering defeat for years, yet now they are on a run of five matches.
Although it should be highlighted that each of those encounters came on home territory, four wins and a draw is a highly impressive return for a team that currently reside in 174th place in the FIFA World Rankings.
However, Nepal have conceded nine goals in their last two away fixtures, losing 2-0 in Jordan before being thumped 7-0 by Indonesia almost a year to the day before this contest.
That will leave coach Vincenzo Alberto Annese under no illusions that there is much work ahead if he wants to extend his undefeated streak in the dugout.
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Team News
A number of players that featured in the Philippines squad in March are absent here, so Weiss will make a number of changes.
Daisuke Sato may return at left-back, Oskari Kekkonen could feature in central midfield, and Bienvenido Maranon is an option down the centre of the attack.
As far as Nepal are concerned, Manish Dangi is in line to play on the right flank with Bharat Khawas not featuring in the squad.
Annese must decide whether to hand a debut to either Simanta Thapa or Bimal Panday in defence, with Nishan Khadka also pushing for just his fourth outing.
Philippines possible starting lineup:
Etheridge; Curran, De Murga, Aguinaldo, Sato; Ingreso, Kekkonen, Ma. Ott; Rublico, Maranon, Porteria
Nepal possible starting lineup:
Chemjong; Sa. Shrestha, Chand, Tamang, Khadka; Bista, Uparkoti, Lama; Dangi, N. Shrestha, Ghalan
We say: Philippines 1-2 Nepal
While each of Philippines many defeats have come away from home, we cannot ignore the amount of goals that have been conceded. With that in mind, we fancy Nepal to add to their recent run of victories, even if it is a closely-fought contest.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Darren Plant
