Saudi Arabia Looking to Establish Themselves as Contenders by Beating Oman
Saudi Arabia vs Oman - 16/01/2024
2749
Saudi Arabia will take on Oman this Tuesday in the first AFC Asian Cup game for either side as Roberto Mancini leads out the Saudis for his first-ever tournament and with hopes of establishing the nation as a threat this winter.
Just over two years on from conquering Europe with his home nation, Italy, Mancini is back in management after failing to qualify for the World Cup back in 2022.
The Italian has so far played out nine games with Saudi Arabia and has managed to win four of those matches, draw two and lose the other three. This has seen Mancini record a 44.44% win rate with 13 goals scored and nine let in.
Saudi Arabia - as they are across all of football in general - are on the rise as a national team. The nation has put together an unbeaten run of five games so far, starting with a 4-0 win over Pakistan.
Saleh Alshehri scored twice in that game with a goal in either half, as Abdulrahman Ghareeb and Abdullah Radif netted goals in stoppage time.
Jordan were up next for Saudi Arabia, as Alshehri got another brace in the game with two goals in the first half of another World Cup Qualifier victory.
Further wins in friendlies in preparation for the Asian Cup has seen Saudi Arabia defeat Lebanon 1-0, draw 0-0 with Palestine and defeat Hong Kong 2-0 in the last outing.
Now, elsewhere in this Asian Cup group stage, Saudi Arabia meet with Kyrgyzstan and Thailand after this encounter with Oman, and the club are the clear favourites to win the group as a result.
As for Oman, they are 74th in the FIFA World Rankings ahead of this game, which is one of their highest-ever rankings and the highest within the past five years.
They are also in impressive form right now with only four defeats within the past year. Iraq, Uzbekistan, the United States and Kyrgyzstan have all defeated them within the past 12 months, but recently, Oman have returned to winning ways by defeating China 2-0 in a friendly back in December.
Oman have then gone on to match this bny defeating the United Arab Emirates in a warm up game in Abu Dhabi.
Oman are expected to qualify out of this group and rival Saudi Arabia for top spot, making this game arguably the biggest one of this group.
However, Forebet predicts a win for Saudi Arabia and for the game to see under 2.5 goals.
Home team
Away team
Pred
Correct score
Avg. goals
Weather conditions
Coef.
Score
Live
coef.
As
433126
1
1 - 0
2.28
22°
1.53
1.53
4.00
6.00
no
no
no
2 - 1(0 - 1)
Home
Football 
Basketball
Hockey
American Football
Baseball
Rugby
Volleyball
Handball
Esoccer
