Turkmenistan vs Malaysia

Asia Cup Qualification gets underway this midweek as Turkmenistan and Malaysia square off at the Stadium Nasional Bukit Jalil in Kuala Lumpur.

Since the start of 2021, Turkmenistan have only played three international fixtures, winning one and losing the other two. And while their solitary triumph in that sequence came in the shape of a 3-2 beating of Lebanon, the other two defeats were ‘to nil.’ In fact, since a 1-1 draw with Kuwait in October 2019, none of Turkmenistan’s last five matches have ended level (W3, L2). Though the ‘Karakum Warriors’ are only nominal hosts here, they can draw confidence from winning their last three home internationals by an aggregate scoreline of 8-3. Having netted 2+ goals on each occasion, Said Seyidow’s men will feel confident about their scoring prospects.

In the meantime, Malaysia have enjoyed a decent calendar year thus far, racking up three victories from their four internationals in 2022 (L1). Notably, each of those three wins came by 2+ goals ‘to nil,’ suggesting the Malaysians could be pursuing another ‘blowout.’ Keeping a clean sheet will be of the essence, as Malaysia’s last four international victories have been followed by a shutout. Indeed, the ‘Malayan Tigers’ have lost their three previous internationals in which they failed to record a clean sheet, conceding at least twice on each occasion. But with eight of Malaysia’s last ten outings featuring 3+ goals, the Kuala Lumpur crowd could be in for a treat.