Thailand vs China Predictions

Thailand were far from one of the fancied nations ahead of this tournament and they’ve not exactly done much to change that, though they have delivered moments of promise. By drawing against the competition hosts last time out, they proved that they can compete, so may come into this match feeling confident.

First time out in this competition, despite being odds-on favourites, Thailand disappointed when losing by four goals to one against India. The score-line probably wasn’t fully merited, but the Thai’s defeat certainly was. On that occasion, they struggled to keep things tight, while they didn’t offer enough going forward against an India side that were certainly there to be got at.

Their performance on match-day one was a disappointing one, though Thailand must be given credit for the way that they’ve performed since. It would have been easy for Sirisak Yodyardthai’s men to continue spiralling downwards after that India defeat, but their efforts against both Bahrain and tournament hosts UAE were positive. Thailand outperformed their opponents in terms of expected goals on match-days two and three.

China have also done well at this tournament. They beat Kyrgyzstan on match-day one, while they run out comfortable winners on match-day two. They were easily beaten by South Korea last time out, but they can be forgiven for losing against one of the tournament favourites, especially since they’d already qualified for the knockouts. Thailand haven’t looked too secure at the back, so the fact that China were able to take advantage of the Philippines, recording 2.06 expected goals for and scoring three goals, bodes well.

There’s something to like about both teams ahead of this match, so this is no easy match to call, though at the prices, one team stands out massively. Thailand were poor on match-day one, but they’ve steadily improved since. What’s more, they seemed to have thrived when viewed as outsiders. They performed very well as underdogs against Bahrain, while they were the better side against when going off at a big price against the tournament hosts last time out. Given that their performances have been no worse than China’s, it’s easy to feel that the Thai’s are overpriced.

As things stand, Thailand have outperformed China in terms of expected goals for, while they’ve conceded figures that are not dissimilar to those surrendered by their opponents. Consider this in conjunction with the fact that they’ve already denied two favourites at this tournament and backing Thailand to get a positive result is hard to resist.