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Saudi Arabia host China at the King Abdullah Sports City stadium in Jeddah in the latest round of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. The Green Falcons have won all three of their games in the second round, including a shocking 1-0 victory over World Cup regulars Japan on Saturday.
Having collected nine points so far, the Middle East outfit is level with Australia, but remain in second place courtesy of an inferior goal difference. Nevertheless, it's been a positive start to their campaign by all accounts, as the Saudis look determined to qualify for the championship for the second edition running.
Japan, meanwhile, are down three points in third place. The Blue Samurais lost 1-0 to Oman and Saudi either side of a narrow victory against China. Having qualified for each of the last seven World Cups, Hajime Moriyasu's side have made a bumpy start to their qualifying campaign. But with seven more games to go, they'll aim to bounce back soon.
Saudi Arabia vs China Head-To-Head
Saudi Arabia have won only six of their previous 18 clashes with China, losing seven. The last meeting between the two sides came in January 2015 at the Asia Cup when the latter secured a 1-0 victory.
Saudi Arabia Form Guide (all competitions): W-W-W-W-W
China Form Guide (all competitions): W-W-L-L-W
Saudi Arabia vs China Team News
Saudi Arabia
The Green Falcons are missing some key players such as Salem Al-Dawsari, Abdullah Otayf and Mohammed Al-Breik, who're all injured. Meanwhile, Abdullah Al-Hamdan and Ali Al-Asmari weren't called up by head coach Herve Renard.
But given how the side managed a shock upset of Japan, he isn't likely to make too many changes to his XI.
Injured: Salem Al-Dawsari, Abdullah Otayf and Mohammed Al-Breik
Suspended: None
Unavailable: Abdullah Al-Hamdan and Ali Al-Asmari
China
Renard's Chinese counterpart Li Tie is also not expected to shake things up following their injury-time victory over Vietnam. Wu Lei, the only player in the squad plying his trade outside China, netted twice on Saturday and will be entrusted with producing the goods again.
Versatile defender Yu Dabao, who has scored 19 times in 63 games for the Dragons, might be drafted into the team.
Injured: None
Suspended: None
Unavailable: None
Saudi Arabia vs China Predicted XI
Saudi Arabia (4-2-3-1): Mohammed Al-Owais; Sultan Al-Ghanam, Abdulelah Al-Amri, Abdullah Madu, Yasser Al-Shahrani; Mohammed Kanno, Abdulellah Al-Maliki; Fahad Al-Muwallad, Salman Al-Faraj, Abdulrahman Ghareeb; Saleh Al-Shehri.
China (4-4-1-1): Yan Junling; Wang Gang, Zhang Linpeng, Yu Dabao, Wang Shenchao; Wu Lei, Wu Xi, Xizhe Zhang, Binbin Liu; Ai Kesen; Yuning Zhang.
Saudi Arabia vs China Prediction
In what promises to be an entertaining encounter, Saudi and China might well end up canceling each other out. Both sides are blessed with quality attackers, so a high-scoring draw could be on the cards.
Prediction: Saudi Arabia 2-2 China
