Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates meet forces, in what will be the first friendly match of the year for the two teams. The record of direct confrontations of the last 3 years is favorable to the home team, which in the last 5 matches won 2, drew 2 and lost 1. The last direct match between these two teams, on 12-25-2017, ended with a draw by (0-0). Particular attention is required for the home / away condition, since both teams present significantly different results at home and abroad.
United Arab Emirates:
This will be the first friendly match of the year for the home team, which played 15 last year. In the previous 5 the following results were recorded: Republic of Korea (0-0) Saudi Arabia, Jordan (1-1) Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia (1-0) Yemen, Saudi Arabia (1-1) Iraq and Saudi Arabia ( 0-2) Brazil. This is a team that usually makes good use of the home advantage, stronger with the help of its supporters, since in the last 30 matches they register 2 wins, 3 draws and 10 losses in away matches; against 8 wins, 3 draws and 4 losses at their stadium. The team comes to this match after an away loss to Japan by (1-0). In the last 10 home matches Saudi Arabia has won 5, tied 2 and lost 3. In 15 matches, they have conceded the first goal 9 times and have only won 1 result. There is 1 period that stands out in the last 13 home matches for all competitions: they have suffered 5 of their 12 goals between minutes (31′-45 ‘).
The United Arab Emirates team comes to this game with a snub, 4-0, against Qatar, in a game for the Asian Cup. In the last friendly game, this team beat Yemen 2-0. In this game against Saudi Arabia, coach Alberto Zaccheroni must play in 4-3-3, privileging the maintenance of possession of the ball and organized attacks, especially through the flanks: Amer Abdulrahman, Al-AIn player, he is the one responsible for creating and organizing the offensive process. For this game the technician must present in the field the habitual holders.
Saudi Arabia:
The away team plays its first friendly match of the year, having played 7 last year, with the following scores in the last 5: United Arab Emirates (2-0) Yemen, United Arab Emirates (0-0) Bolivia, Emirates United Arab Emirates (0-2) Venezuela, United Arab Emirates (1-1) Honduras and United Arab Emirates (3-0) Laos. This is a team that usually makes good use of the home advantage, stronger with the help of its supporters, since in the last 30 matches they register 3 wins, 5 draws and 7 losses in away matches; against 6 victories, 6 draws and 3 defeats in their stadium. The team comes to this match after a loss outside with Qatar by (4-0). In the last 10 away matches for all competitions, the UAE has won 3, tied 2 and lost 5. Their offense has scored frequently, since they have scored goals in 7 of the last 10 matches. In their home matches there is a tendency for few goals, since 6 of the last 12 matches have ended with Under 1,5 goals and 10 out of 12 have ended with Under 2,5 goals. In 15 games, he suffered the first goal 4 times and never got the comeback.
The Saudis leave for this game with a defeat, 1-0, against Japan, in a game to count for the knockout stages of the Asian Cup. In the last friendly match, Saudi Arabia won a positive draw against South Korea. In this match the coach Juan Antonio Pizzi must act in 4-3-3, being Fahad Al Muwallad the most advanced player of the team. However, we believe that Saudi Arabia has several gaps, both in defense and in attack. For this game the coach counts his usual players.
PREDICTION: Under 2,5 goals @ 1,67
