Muscat: Oman will face a crucial fixture in in the Asian qualifiers — Road to Qatar 2022 for Group B as they will take on Saudi Arabia on Thursday at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium at Al Jawhara in Jeddah. The match kicks off at 9.15pm, Oman time.
Hosts Saudi Arabia lead the standings with 16 points from six matches while Oman have seven points with two wins, one draw and three defeats.
In the other Group B matches, second placed Japan will meet China at home while third-placed Australia will host Vietnam in Sydney.
Coach Branko Ivankovic’s men are aware that the team needs a victory in today’s match to revive their chances of a better position in Group B. Clinching the three points in the forthcoming encounters will be the target for the national team to fight on the direct and in-direct spots for the World Cup.
Saudi’s game will be followed with another challenging fixture against Australia on Tuesday at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex. The Red Warriors had some training sessions in Jeddah and the last warm-up session was at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium ahead of the tough match. Different technical and tactical sessions took place during the training period.
On the other hand, Saudi Arabia will aim for a victory to assure their presence in the World Cup. Saudi, who are unbeaten in the group, registered five victories and one draw. Coach Herve Renard’s men will get an advantage of home support as the Saudi Sports Ministry has allowed full capacity attendance in the stadium.
Oman coach Branko will miss services of Abdulaziz al Mukhaini and Essam al Subhi after the players tested Covid-19 positive. And Salah al Yahyaei will sit out due to an injury. However, the Croatian coach is confident that the players will deliver top show and register positive result in the game.
The expected starting line-up of Oman will be Fayez al Rushaidi as goalkeeper, Juma al Habsi will lead the defence besides Amjad al Harthi, Ahmed al Khamisi and Ahmed al Kaabi. Experienced Harib al Saadi will monitor the midfield besides Abdullah Fawaz, Arshad al Alawi and Jameel al Yahmadi. Mohsin al Ghasani and Al Mundher al Alawi will be the attackers.
