Indonesia vs Palestine

Stadion Gelora Bung Tomo is the venue as Indonesia and Palestine meet in only their second-ever international showdown.

Indonesia have recovered from a 2-0 aggregate loss to Vietnam in the AFF Championship semi-finals to Vietnam in January, putting together two internationals without losing (W1, D1), both of which witnessed over 3.5 goals and both teams on the scoresheet. Another high-scoring contest could be on the cards, considering Indonesia’s only previous encounter against Palestine yielded a 4-1 victory in 2011. Shin Tae-young’s men are well-versed in thriving under such circumstances, having gone unbeaten in their last four home outings (W3, D1), all of which contained 3+ goals. But since none saw the Indonesians keep a clean sheet, the hosts cannot take anything for granted, especially following a 2-2 draw against considerable pre-match underdogs Burundi last time out.

In the meantime, Palestine have been nothing short of impressive since the start of 2022, winning all four international fixtures by an aggregate score of 12-1, most recently dispatching Bahrain 2-1 on the road. Yet a lack of competitive form and potentially even chemistry within the team due to a relatively sparse calendar could derail the visitors’ bid to win a third consecutive match on foreign soil. Interestingly, none of Palestine’s last 11 games outside their homeland have ended as a draw (W4, L7), with 73% of those clashes seeing the winner on the day keep a clean sheet (8/11). That highlights the significance of a fast start, which hasn’t been the Palestinians’ strong suit on the road, given that they’ve failed to score before halftime on five of their last seven international travels.