Both looking to make it three wins on the bounce, Malaysia and Solomon Islands square off in a friendly at the Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium on Wednesday.
The Harimau Malaya have won each of their last seven friendly matches and will look to maintain this impressive run as they begin ramping up their preparations for January's AFC Asia Cup.
Match preview
Ahead of their first appearance at the AFC Asia Cup since their group-stage exit in 2007, Malaysia have put together a fine run of form as they look to build momentum.
Pan-Gon Kim's men made it two back on March 28, when they edged out Hong Kong 2-0 courtesy of goals from Akhyar Rashid and Mohd Faisal Abdul Halim.
This followed a deserved 1-0 victory over Turkmenistan at the Stadium Sultan Ibrahim, with Rashid scoring the only goal of the game to hand Said Seyidov's side a fourth defeat in five games.
The Harimau Malaya's most recent competitive outing came back in January, when they locked horns with Thailand over two legs for a place in the final of the AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup.
After picking up a 1-0 home win in the first leg on January 7, Malaysia were thrashed 3-0 in the return leg at the Thammasat Stadium, with Thailand cruising through the semi-finals 3-1 on aggregate.
As for Solomon Islands, their last competitive game came in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers in March 2022, when they suffered a 5-0 hammering at the hands of New Zealand.
Prior to that, Felipe Vega-Arango's men were on a run of three consecutive victories, seeing off Cook Islands, Tahiti and Papua New Guinea in the World Cup qualifiers.
However, Solomon Islands have won their three subsequent matches since their loss to New Zealand, claiming friendly victories over New Caledonia, Vanuatu and most recently Fiji.
The Bonitos were last in action on March 26, when they beat Fiji 2-0 at the Churchill Park Stadium courtesy of goals in either half from KOSSA FC Honiara striker Gagame Feni.
Solomon Islands, who have won six of their last seven matches across all competitions, are currently ranked 134th in the latest FIFA World Rankings, just four places above Wednesday's hosts.
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Team News
Kim has named a 26-man squad for the upcoming friendlies against Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea, including the Selangor trio of Mukhairi Ajmal, Faisal Halim and Syahir Bashah.
Bashah is one of three new faces in the Malaysia senior squad, alongside Azri Ghani and Sikh Izhan Nazrel, who will all be looking to make their debut this Wednesday.
With 52 senior appearances, Safawi Rasid is the most capped player in the Harimau Malaya squad and should lead the attack, while we expect a back four of Matthew Davies, Shahrul Saad, Syahmi Safari and La'Vere Corbin-Ong.
Nineteen-year-old striker Raphael Lea'i has scored five goals in seven appearances for Solomon Islands and the Velez Mostar striker will be one to keep an eye on.
With his brace against Fiji, Feni moved up to fourth place in the nation's all-time scoring chart and the 30-year-old will be looking to add to his 16 international goals.
Marist FC midfielder had been handed his debut call-up by Vega-Arango but we expect a midfield three of William Komasi, Molis Gagame and Marlon Tahioa.
Malaysia possible starting lineup:
Hazmi; Davies, Saad, Safari, Corbin-Ong; Wilkin, Laine; Abba, Josue, Rashid; Hamlin
Solomon Islands possible starting lineup:
Mango; Alick, Kalu, Kofana, Stanton; Komasi, Gagame; Tahioa; Lea'i, Feni, Nawo
We say: Malaysia 2-2 Solomon Islands
Malaysia and Solomon Islands head into the midweek clash on a fine run of results and we anticipate a thrilling contest at the Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium. We predict that they will cancel out each other's efforts and play out an entertaining draw.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joshua Ojele
