Preview: United Arab Emirates vs. Kazakhstan - prediction, team news, lineups

The home team will enter the contest off the back of a 5-0 defeat to Argentina, while Kazakhstan suffered a 2-0 loss to Uzbekistan in their last game on Wednesday.

Match preview

United Arab Emirates have only been present in the finals of one World Cup, which came back in 1990, when they were eliminated in the group stage of the competition due to three defeats from three matches.

Rodolfo Arruabarrena's side finished third in Group A as part of the qualification process for the 2022 World Cup, which saw them take on Australia in the fourth round, but they suffered a 2-1 defeat to the Socceroos, ending their hopes of advancing to the finals of the tournament.

UAE can certainly take encouragement from their campaign, though, and they are now building towards the Gulf Cup of Nations, which begins in early January.

Arruabarrena's side have not actually been victorious since beating South Korea at the end of March, drawing one and losing four of their last five matches in all competitions.

UAE were in friendly action against Argentina on Wednesday and suffered a 5-0 defeat to the South American nation, with Lionel Messi among the goalscorers for Lionel Scaloni's side.

Kazakhstan, meanwhile, suffered a 2-0 defeat to Uzbekistan on Wednesday, which proved to be their second successive loss, having also gone down 3-0 to Azerbaijan at the end of September.

Magomed Adiyev's side are yet to qualify for the finals of a World Cup or European Championship, and they had a difficult qualification campaign for the 2022 World Cup.

Indeed, Kazakhstan failed to win a game in Group D, ultimately finishing bottom of the section, with their last game in the group proving to be an 8-0 loss to France last November.

The Hawks will not be back in competitive action until next March against Slovenia, which will represent their first match in their qualification section for Euro 2024, with Denmark, San Marino, Northern Ireland, Finland and Slovenia also present in Group H.

United Arab Emirates International Friendlies form:

D

L

L

L

United Arab Emirates form (all competitions):

W

D

L

L

L

L

Kazakhstan International Friendlies form:

L

Kazakhstan form (all competitions):

W

D

W

W

L

L

Team News

UAE boss Arruabarrena is expected to make changes from the side that started against Argentina last time out, with Majid Rashid and Majed Hassan among those likely to come into the side.

Ali Khasif could be back between the sticks for this match, but there are again expected to be starts for Ali Mabkhout and Caio Canedo in the final third of the field.

Mabkhout is UAE's highest goalscorer of all time with 80 goals, while Canedo has come up with seven goals in 25 appearances for the national team.

As for Kazakhstan, head coach Adiyev will need to assess the fitness of his players following the defeat to Uzbekistan before naming his starting side here.

There is plenty of experience in the squad, particularly in a midfield area, and there are expected to be starts for the likes of Islambek Kuat and Aslan Darabayev on Saturday.

Bakhtiyar Zaynutdinov is the leading goalscorer in the squad with 10, and the 24-year-old is also likely to be in the first XI this weekend.

United Arab Emirates possible starting lineup:

Khasif; Al-Attas, Haikal, Al Hammadi, Mohammed; Salmeen, Hassan, Rashid, Al-Zaabi; Mabkhout, Canedo

Kazakhstan possible starting lineup:

Shatsky; Alip, Beysebekov, Malyi, Shomko; Zaynutdinov, Darabayev, Kuat, Orazov; Astanov, Aymbetov

We say: United Arab Emirates 2-1 Kazakhstan

UAE will be determined to bounce back from their five-goal loss to Argentina last time out, and we are backing the home side to triumph here. Kazakhstan were disappointing against Uzbekistan on Wednesday and could be on the end of another defeat in Saturday's contest.

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