Malaysia vs Maldives

KLFA Stadium in Kuala Lumpur will host only a third-ever meeting between Malaysia and the Maldives this midweek.

Malaysia got the Qatar World Cup break off to a flyer, as they netted three unanswered first-half goals in a 4-0 humbling of Cambodia last time out. In addition to keeping their second consecutive clean sheet for the first time since June, the Malaysians halted a poor streak of back-to-back draws and could now win two games in a row for the first time since a run of three between May and June. Clear-cut favourites to achieve that feat, the ‘Tiger of Malaya’ thumped the Maldives in their most recent friendly encounter in 2018, cruising to a 3-0 victory. A high-scoring theme could be the order of the day again, considering four of Malaysia’s last six internationals have featured over 2.5 total goals.

As for the Maldives, a morale-boosting 3-1 romping of Laos last time out extended their winning streak to three matches, a feat they’ve never achieved in the nation’s history beforehand. Indeed, those three victories are as many as they had in their previous 13 internationals combined (W3, D3, L7), suggesting they’re no longer pushovers. What’s even more promising for Francesco Moreiro’s men is that they’ve won successive away games in the lead-up to this showdown, having won none of their eight previous outings on hostile turf (D2, L6). Flying out of the traps could prove crucial for the ‘Red Snappers,’ considering six of their last seven fixtures have seen one or both sides fail to get on the scoresheet (W4, D1, L2).