China will face off against the Philippines in the match of the 9th round of the qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup. We analyze the form of the teams and give a forecast.
China
The Chinese national team has three more matches to play in the second qualifying stage of the 2022 World Cup and is unlikely to finish in the first place, since the gap between Syria and the second qualifying stage is eight points. It remains to fight for the second position and get into the top four teams that took second places in their groups. In the previous round, China defeated Guam 7-0 and returned to the winning path, and before that lost 1-2 to Syria and shared points with the Philippines (0-0).
Philippines
The Philippines already has even a theoretical chance of second place, so the goal is second, but it will have to fight pretty hard for it, because China will not just give up. After five games, the Philippines has 7 points, which is three less than the Chinese national team. In the first round, the Philippines lost 2-5 to Syria, then defeated Guam 4-1, played 0-0 with China, beat Maldives 2-1 and lost 0-1 to Syria. Victory in the upcoming meeting will allow the Philippines to move up to second place and take advantage of the two final rounds.
Statistics and figures:
- China won in one match out of the last three;
- The Philippines lost in one game out of the previous four;
- In the previous face-to-face match, China and the Philippines went 0:0 in peace.
Forecast
China is the favorite, but the Philippines has nothing to lose, they need to go ahead and score. Both teams will be focused on the attack, so I think the bet on mutual effectiveness is appropriate.
