Gameweek one of the second rounds in the AFC World Cup qualifiers kicks off this week, and in Group H, we will see Yemen taking on Bahrain on Thursday evening.

Owing to safety concerns in the host nation, this match will be played at the Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Sports City Stadium in Saudi Arabia.

Match preview

Currently ranked 31st in the region, Yemen secured their place in Group H of this round by beating the lowest-ranked team, Sri Lanka, in round one last month.

The hosts claimed a 3-0 win at Damac Stadium in the first leg, and while the Sri Lankans put up a much better performance in the second match, Yemen got through 4-1 on aggregate.

Ahmed Maher, Nasser Mohammedoh and Abdulwasea Al Matari got their names on the scoresheet in the first match, while the latter scored his side's only goal a week later in Colombo.

While back-to-back matches would have done wonders for their confidence, Al-Yaman As-Sa'eed face a stern test here against an opponent that is ranked nearly 30 places above them in the region, which features a total of 46 teams.

Meanwhile, Bahrain have had the perfect preparation leading up to this round of competition and will feel that they are in good enough form to trouble group favourites, the United Arab Emirates.

Bahrain have played as many as 10 matches already this year, which included a very promising showing in the Gulf Cup of Nations, where they reached the semi-final before bowing out 1-0 to Oman.

Since then, the Reds have played six friendlies and come into this match off the back of three games undefeated, which included two consecutive clean sheets in their last two games last month.

The visitors also have an excellent record against this opponent, unbeaten in nine previous encounters, while they have not conceded a single goal to Al-Yaman As-Sa'eed in any of those matches.

Team News

Al-Khader Al-Douh should return at full-back after missing the second-leg encounter against Sri Lanka, with Mohammed Al-Ghaili and Harwan Al-Zubaidi making up the central defensive pairing.

Al Matari should keep his place after two positive performances in the last two games, while Maher will be expecting to return to the starting 11 after being rotated last time out.

Ibrahim Al-Khatal scored for the Reds in their last match against the Philippines and could retain his place in midfield alongside Ali Madan and Abdulwahab Al Malood.

Amine Mohamad Hassan Benaddi and Waleed Al Hayam are expected to start in central defence, while Ali Haram should provide cover as the deepest-lying midfielder.

Yemen possible starting lineup:
Al Sadi; Al-Douh, Al-Ghaili, Al-Zubaidi, Al Wajih; Al Sarori, Al Tairi, Hanash, Al Matari, Al-Gahwashi; Maher

Bahrain possible starting lineup:
Jaffer; Isa, Benaddi, Al Hayam, Sayeed; Haram, Al-Shaikh, Madan, Al Malood, Al-Khatal; Yusuf

We say: Yemen 0-2 Bahrain

While Yemen will come into this match with confidence after beating Sri Lanka last month, they face a step up in class here against a Bahrain side that have had the ideal preparation ahead of this competition. The visitors have never lost to this opponent, and we expect them to claim another victory in this one.


For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Written by
Devesh Jaganath

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