Preview: Yemen vs. Uzbekistan - prediction, team news, lineups

Yemen take on Uzbekistan in a World Cup qualifier on Friday.

Due to security reasons, the match will be played at King Fahd International Stadium, Saudi Arabia.

Match preview

Yemen have not played at their national home stadium for several years due to it suffering bomb damage during the ongoing war in the troubled country.

Results on the football pitch have struggled, too, with the Red Devils currently bottom of their qualifying group for next winter's World Cup in nearby Qatar.

While their hopes of qualifying for a World Cup for the first time in the nation's history are already over, a win against Uzbekistan on Friday would at least take them above Palestine and Singapore into third place in Group D.

This could have a positive impact on their seeding for future tournaments, and indeed their lowly FIFA ranking, which currently stands at 145th.

Uzbekistan, meanwhile, still have a chance of topping Group D and automatically progressing to the third round of Asian qualifying.

A 5-0 thrashing of Singapore earlier in the week means that, providing they beat Yemen on Friday, Uzbekistan will be able to leapfrog Saudi Arabia into top spot in Group D by beating them on Tuesday.

As things stand, the White Wolves are one of the four strongest second-placed teams, who will also advance to the next round of qualifying.

Uzbekistan have never qualified for a World Cup as an independent nation, so Vadim Abramov will be looking to ensure that his players do not let this opportunity slip.

Team News

All of Yemen's 23 players in their current squad ply their domestic trade in the Middle East.

Their captain Ala Al-Sasi is the nation's most capped ever player on 87 appearances.

Uzbekistan, meanwhile, have a wider spread of players in terms of where they play their domestic football.

Captain Odil Ahmedov of Cangzhou Mighty Lions and Eldor Shomurodov of Genoa head into Friday's match against Yemen both level on 21 goals for their country, which puts the pair 13 strikes behind Maksim Shatskikh's record of 34 set between 1999 and 2014.

Yemen possible starting lineup:
Ayash; Mahdi, Abdurabu, Wahid, Boqshan; Al-Sarori, Saad, Al-Gahwashi, Al-Matari; Mohammed, Mansour

Uzbekistan possible starting lineup:
Kuvvatov; Alikulov, Kobilov, Eshmuradov, Zoteev; Alibaev, Akhmedov; Khamdamov, Shukurov, Masharipov; Shomurodov

We say: Yemen 1-2 Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan are 59 places above their forthcoming opponents in the FIFA World Rankings, so should have enough quality to set up a final matchday showdown against Saudi Arabia.

However, Yemen have had two days' greater rest and recovery, and demonstrated through their 2-2 draw with the Saudis earlier in the qualifying group that they should not be underestimated.