World Cup
2008-02-06 - Saudi Arabia vs Singapore
A Sports Betting Pick by Romerz
World Cup 2010 – Asia Qualifying – Round 3
King Fahd International Stadium, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
6 February 2008 – 20.15 (local time)
Round 3 of World Cup 2010 qualifying for Asia resumes on 6 February 2008 for the remaining 20 teams who are divided into 5 groups of 4.
Each team will play 6 matches in a league format and the top 2 teams will proceed to the next round. This match is from Group 4 comprising of Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, Lebanon and Singapore.
Saudi Arabia
Ranked 57 in the world, the Saudis are considered favorite of Group 4 and could be considered being in an ‘easy’ group with only Uzbekistan as being the only threat. Saudi Arabia are on course to qualify for their 5th World Cup finals and it will take more than Singapore to put a dent in their ambitions.
Saudi Arabia has qualified for every World Cup finals since making their debut in USA 1994. In last year’s Asian Cup, Saudi Arabia finished 2nd after losing to Iraq in the final.
In the last 10 matches at home, the Saudis have an amazing record of 9 wins and 1 loss and that loss was way back on 27 January 2007 in a Gulf Cup match against UAE by 0-1.
Since that loss, Saudi Arabia has recorded 8 straight wins at home, notable of which was the 4-0 win over Bahrain in Asian Cup 2007 qualifying and the 5-0 victory over Ghana in a friendly in September 2007. In the last 10 matches at home, Saudi Arabia scored 21 goals and conceded 4 with 6 of the matches being clean sheets. The only match where Saudi Arabia failed to score was the loss to UAE.
Saudi players to look out for are Yasser Al Qahtani, Malek Maaz and Abdulrahman Al Qahtani. 26 year old Yasser Al Qahtani has been capped 54 times and scored 44 goals for his country.
Singapore
Ranked 126 in the world, Singapore surprised many when they eliminated Tajikistan 3-1 on aggregate in round 2 of the qualifiers. Never having reached a World Cup finals before, Singapore is rightly considered the outsiders in Group 4.
In the last 10 matches away, Singapore managed to win only 3, drew 4 and lost 3. Don’t let the 4 draws mislead you as 3 of them were against fellow SouthEast Asian minnow countries.
Singapore is taking this qualifying match seriously as they have been in the Middle East since 24 January 2008 playing friendly matches in preparation for this match. In the 1st friendly match, Singapore beat Kuwait 2-0 but 3 days later, they lost to Oman by the same scoreline. As I write this preview, Singapore just lost to Jordan 1-2.
One important omission from the Singapore squad is prolific striker Nor Alam Shah who is undergoing a 1 year suspension following an attack on team mate Daniel Bennet in a domestic league match.
Instead, Singapore will be looking to 38 year old Aleksander Duric for goals who made his debut on 9 November 2007 against Tajikistan after receiving his naturalization papers. So far he has scored 2 goals after 1 cap.
Analysis
Saudi Arabia should prove too strong for Singapore and being the 1st match of this phase of the qualification process, Saudi Arabia will look to send a signal to Uzbekistan by convincingly winning this match. Given their fantastic home record and scoring abilities, it wouldn’t surprise me if they put a few past Singapore.
Singapore, on the other hand, will be under no illusions that this is the toughest match they will face in this phase of qualifying and will probably try to limit damage and live to fight again at home and against Lebanon.
Verdict
Saudi Arabia to win @ 1.25 should be considered a safe bet. At the moment, I have no quotations for the Asian handicap but an AH of -1 for Saudi Arabia can be considered.
The Pick :
Saudi Arabia to win
