Comments and predictions for Bahrain vs Saudi Arabia: Late goal

Latest Bahrain vs Saudi Arabia team information

Dragan Talajic continues to rely on the experienced squad that helped Bahrain win the Gulf Cup; top scorer Mohamed Marhoon in that tournament is one of the familiar faces set to feature.

Captain Kamil Al-Aswad, who has 117 caps for his country, is likely to start in central midfield, while 36-year-old Waleed Al Hayam will lead the home defence. For the second week in a row, Villarreal youngster Sayed Al-Wadaei has been called up but could be on the bench.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia coach Herve Renard opted for a younger squad, although veteran Al-Hilal Salem Al-Dawsari often started as a winger.

Renard could recall Ali Majrashi after the right-back recovered from an adductor injury that has kept him out for a few weeks. However, Al-Ettifaq centre-back Abdullah Mado is in place of Jehad Thakri, who suffered a thigh injury playing for Al-Qadisiyah in the King's Cup final.

Additionally, Muteb Al-Harbi and Mohammed Bakr are training separately and could miss out, especially as the team looks ahead to next week's game against Australia.

Latest expected lineup Bahrain vs Saudi Arabia

Bahrain:
Lutfalla; Emmanuel, Benaddi, Al-Hayam, Al-Khalasi; Saeed, Al-Aswad; Madan, Marhoon, Al-Humaidan; Abduljabbar

Saudi Arabia:
Al-Aqidi; Abdulhamid, Lajami, Al-Tambakti, Boushal; Yahya, Al-Ghamdi, N. Al-Dawsari; S. Al-Dawsari, Al-Buraikan, Al-Sahafi

Latest football commentary on Bahrain vs Saudi Arabia

Bahrain have never made it to the World Cup — though they have twice within one match of each other — but they could still make a breakthrough next summer.

Despite not leaving much of an impression in Group C so far, the West Asian nation still has a small chance of qualifying for the expanded finals, as the third- or fourth-placed teams will enter the next AFC qualifiers in October.

In this round, two more direct berths will be determined, and teams that have not yet succeeded may have a final chance in the intercontinental play-offs.

So the Gulf Cup champions are not out of the running yet despite losing both of their last two matches — against Japan and Indonesia in March.

Currently ranked fifth outside the top four, Dragan Talajic's team are three points behind Indonesia before hosting Saudi Arabia and visiting China, so they cannot afford to lose any more.

After the biggest shock at Qatar 2022 when defeating eventual champions Argentina, Saudi Arabia is struggling in the journey to win a top two position to directly qualify for the 2026 World Cup.

Green Falcons have only won 2 out of 8 matches in Group C, the hope of getting a direct ticket, just behind Japan, is almost very low.

They are battling for second place in the group with Australia, who lead by three points, and the two teams will go head-to-head next week in the final stages of this complex qualifying process.

So coach Herve Renard's team — which is set to be invited to the CONCACAF Gold Cup this summer — must beat Bahrain to keep the pressure on the Socceroos, who also have a superior goal difference.

After a slow start, Saudi Arabia has revived — picking up four points from games against China and Japan in March — and they warmed up for this month's matches with a 2-0 friendly win over Jordan.

However, they lost 2-3 to Bahrain in the Gulf Cup after drawing 0-0 at home in the second leg last year, so they cannot afford to underestimate their upcoming opponents.

Latest Bahrain vs Saudi Arabia score prediction

Based on the above football comments, we and the world's leading football sites have given the results of the match.Bahrain vs Saudi Arabiaas follows:

• Sportsmole:Bahrain 0-1 Saudi Arabia

• WhoScore:Bahrain 0-2 Saudi Arabia
• Our newspaper predicts:Bahrain 0-1 Saudi Arabia

When and where to watch Bahrain vs Saudi Arabia live?

To watch the Bahrain vs Saudi Arabia match live in the World Cup qualifiers taking place at 7:00 a.m. on June 5, viewers can watch onK+ Sport,K+PMor online sports channels. Wish you have fun watching football.