Iraq will face Syria on Thursday, with both sides in desperate need of a victory if they are to stand a realistic chance of qualifying for World Cup 2022.
Both sides are still looking for their first win in the third round of qualifying, with Iraq on three points, while Syria have just a point to their name.
Match preview
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Iraq have only qualified once for the World Cup - appearing at Mexico 1986 - and if they are to qualify for a second time, their best hope will be through the playoffs.
That is due to the fact that Iraq are five points adrift of the top two automatic qualification spots, although they are only two points behind Lebanon, who occupy the playoff place.
In the most recent international period, they played out a goalless draw at home to Lebanon, before they drew 2-2 against the United Arab Emirates.
Dick Advocaat's side seemed to be heading for three points after Mohammed Al-Attas scored an own goal and Aymen Hussein netted in the 89th minute to give Iraq a 2-1 lead, but Ali Mabkhout grabbed an equaliser in the third minute of stoppage time to ensure the spoils were shared.
Iraq are winless in their last five games, and they have only scored two goals in that period, although they will see the Syria encounter as a great chance to collect all three points.
Syria are still looking for their first win of the third round of qualification, with their hopes of qualifying for their first World Cup fading.
They have only collected a point from their opening four group games, and as result, they are four points adrift of the playoff place.
They head into Thursday's game on the back of two consecutive defeats, after losing to South Korea and Lebanon in the last international period.
Goals from Omar Khribin and Omar Al-Somah were not enough for Syria to avoid defeat in their last outing, with Lebanon claiming a 3-2 victory.
If Syria are to collect a victory on Thursday then they will need to improve defensively, having conceded the most goals in the group, with their defence breached on seven occasions in their opening four games.
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Team News
Hussein scored after coming off the bench against United Arab Emirates, and the forward is likely to start on Thursday.
Fahad Talib has started the last four games in goal for the national side, and he will be aiming for another shutout after keeping two clean sheets in his last four international appearances.
There will be a third consecutive start for Ibrahim Bayesh, who is likely to feature in Iraq's midfield.
Meanwhile, Khribin is looking to score in his third consecutive international game, and he will be partnered up front by Al-Somah.
There could be place in the starting lineup for Fahd Youssef, who was dropped for the Lebanon encounter.
Iraq possible starting lineup:
Talib; Ammar; Putros, Faez, Adnan; Resan, Al-Ammari, Attwan, Bayesh; Hussein, Abdul Zahra
Syria possible starting lineup:
Alma; Al-Ahmad, Al-Midani, Krouma, Kurdaghli; Al-Mawas, Hmeisheh, Osman, Youssef; Khribin, Al-Somah
We say: Iraq 1-1 Syria
Both sides ideally need a win, but with four of the last five meetings between the two ending all square, we think that a winner may elude either side on Thursday.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Iraq win with a probability of 49.13%. A draw had a probability of 26.2% and a win for Syria had a probability of 24.68%.
The most likely scoreline for a Iraq win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.74%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (9.47%) and 2-1 (9.19%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.36%), while for a Syria win it was 0-1 (8.33%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 12.4% likelihood.
