China vs Vietnam

Stakes are high for China and Vietnam as they lock horns at the Sharjah Stadium in a must-win FIFA World Cup Group B encounter.

China’s hopes of qualifying for their second World Cup finals – first since ‘Korea-Japan 2002’ – are hanging by a thread, as they’ve lost both of their opening Group B fixtures by an aggregate score of 4-0. With three of their four goals conceded across those matches coming before half-time, under-fire manager Li Tie will be desperate for a more promising start this time around. China’s recent home showings in the ongoing World Cup qualifying campaign can encourage Lie, with his men stringing together three straight such victories by an aggregate scoreline of 10-1 before falling to a narrow 1-0 defeat to Japan last time out. More importantly, each of those three aforementioned triumphs saw China keep a first-half clean sheet, with two witnessing the ‘Dragon’s Team’ lead at half-time.

As for Vietnam, they are in a similar situation as China. However, they’ve at least found the net once across their two Group B defeats to date, scoring in a 3-1 turnaround loss to Saudi Arabia on Matchday 1. After avoiding defeat in seven consecutive internationals held on hostile turf (W3, D4 – 90 minutes only), the visitors have lost back-to-back matches away from home, conceding precisely three goals on each occasion. Vietnam’s underdog status here is somewhat understandable, considering they’ve lost all three away H2Hs by an aggregate score of 13-1, succumbing to a 3+ goal margin loss in each. What’s more, the ‘Golden Star Warriors’ have lost both previous World Cup H2Hs, conceding seven goals while scoring just one in return.