UAE vs Thailand: Match Preview and Prediction

UAE vs Thailand
World Cup Qualifier – Asian Qualifier
Date: Thursday, 6th October 2016
Kick-off: 17:00 UK
Venue: Bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi.

The UAE football team could become one of the surprise packages in Group B of the Asian Edition of 2018 World Cup Qualifiers. They kicked off the round 3 with a thrilling 2-1 win against the mighty Japan. They fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat in the second fixture against Australia, but there was no lack of fighting spirit throughout the 90 minutes. Their performances in the qualifying rounds come by no surprise. Their current crop of players is the best in decades, especially the captain Ahmed Khalil and playmaker Omar Abdulrahman are the pick of the bunch.

Thailand do not have the brilliance of individual talent in their squad. But they are a disciplined and hardworking unit which have done exceptionally well to reach the third round of qualifiers. And by surprise they top the second round group pushing Iraq to the second place with an unbeaten record of 4 wins and 2 draws. However, they started the third round of qualifiers with back-to-back defeats, first to Saudi 1-0 and then Japan 2-0. It is an uphill task for the War Elephants to progress beyond from a group involves Australia and Japan.

UAE vs Thailand: Head-to-Head Stats

In the last five meetings against Thailand, the UAE football team have won in 3, drawn 1 and lost 1. The lone Thai win happened in the 2006 World Cup qualifying fixture at home on October 2004 by a massive 3-0 margin. And they will come into the match the back of a 2 match unbeaten run after having held UAE to a 1-1 draw in their latest friendly fixture on October 2007.

UAE vs Thailand: Prediction

UAE come in as strong favourites to win this one. They can play some attacking football and the squad has some talented players. Also they have played the two strongest sides in the group on September. The pressure will be less and you can expect them to be on the offense from the word go.

Thailand have lost their last three matches in all competitions without scoring. UAE have a strong defense and their goal is insured by goal-keeper Khalid Essa, who pulled off some excellent saves against Japan and Australia. The Emirates could win this without conceding, expect them to score at least twice here.