Singapore will welcome China to the National Stadium in Kallang on Thursday in the third round of Asian World Cup Qualifying second-round games.
The hosts will search for their first points of the group stage, while their visitors only trail second-placed Thailand on goal difference.
Match preview
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Singapore return to World Cup Qualifying action for the first time in 2024 on Thursday in search of their first points in the second-round group stage, having progressed through a knockout round to reach this point.
The Lions met Guam with a place in a qualifying group on the line, and they progressed with a 3-1 aggregate triumph, having won 2-1 on home turf and 1-0 away in October.
Their second-round bid then began with a tough trip to South Korea in November, and they left empty-handed following a 5-0 thrashing with Cho Gue-sung, Hwang Hee-chan, Son Heung-min, Hwang Ui-jo and Lee Kang-in on the scoresheet, before most recently hosting Thailand and suffering a 3-1 loss, despite drawing level in the 41st minute through Shawal Anuar, as Suphanat Mueanta settled the contest with a second-half brace.
Having missed out on the AFC Asian Cup at the beginning of the new year, Singapore will now play their first football of 2024 and bid to move level with their visitors with a first win of the qualifying campaign on Thursday.
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China, meanwhile, will set out to crack the top two in the group on Thursday, having earned three points from their first two outings last year after receiving a bye past the first round.
Bidding to reach a first World Cup since 2002 and the second in their history, the Dragon's Team began in the second-round group with a trip to Thailand in November and came from behind to win 2-1, as Wu Lei levelled the scores on the half-hour mark and Wang Shangyuan netted the decisive goal 16 minutes from time.
Group favourites South Korea then visited Shenzhen, and China failed to make it back-to-back wins, coming away empty-handed as Son Heung-min netted a brace for the visitors and Jung Seung-hyun added a third in the dying minutes.
Now returning to action on the back of an unsuccessful AFC Asian Cup campaign, dropping out of the group stage without a victory, China now turn their focus to World Cup Qualifying under new management with Branko Ivankovic having taken over from Aleksandar Jankovic in February, and they will be keen to start their new era with three points to move into the two third-round qualification spots with three games to go.
Team News
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Ikhsan Fandi should spearhead Singapore's attack on Thursday, having netted 17 goals in his 34 international caps thus far, while Shawal Anuar should also earn a start after netting his 11th goal for the Lions off the bench in their last qualifying game against Thailand.
Captain Hariss Harun sits fifth in his nation's all-time appearance charts with 128 to his name at the age of 33 years old, and he will continue to play a key role in the centre, with Zulfahmi Arifin likely coming in to join him as 89-capped Shahdan Sulaiman is not involved in the squad for their upcoming qualifiers.
They have further experience to call on at the back, with key centre-back Safuwan Baharudin having earned 110 caps and scored 13 goals, and 23-year-old Jacob Mahler will again hope to join him in front of veteran stopper Hassan Sunny.
Branko Ivankovic has an experienced China squad to pick from on Thursday, all of whom ply their trade in the nation's top flight, with 104-capped Zhang Linpeng again set to be joined by former Everton man Tyias Browning and Chenjie Zhu in defence.
Zhang Yuning will hope to again lead the line after being preferred in their final Asian Cup game before elimination, but Shanghai Port's Wu Lei will fight to return up top from the outset having notched up 32 goals in his 94 caps thus far.
Singapore possible starting lineup:
Sunny; Nazari, Baharudin, Mahler, Stewart; Song, Harun, Arifin, Kweh; Fandi, Anuar
China possible starting lineup:
Yang; Zhang, Browning, Zhu; Hanwen, Shangyuan, Pengfei, Liu; Yuning, Lei, Liangming
We say: Singapore 1-3 China
There is a wealth of experience throughout Singapore's squad, but China arguably have more quality across the pitch in theirs, and we can only envisage the visitors prevailing on Thursday.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Sam Varley
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