International - International Friendlies
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by Daniel Ngulu | in Football Predictions
India and Maldives will commence their Asian Cup qualifiers preparations with a friendly match this Wednesday. The match in Meghalaya will mark a 14th clash between them. Below, we have the preview and a prediction for the match.
India closed 2024 with a pair of 1-1 draws with Vietnam and Malaysia in friendly matches. It is about four years since these two nations last met, in the SAFF Championships.
Back then, India claimed a 3-1 win to extend their dominance over Maldives. In their 13 meetings so far, India have registered nine victories.
The top news for India fans is the return of Sunil Chhetri from retirement. The Bengaluru forward has five goals from previous meetings with Maldives.
While India are seeking a first win in 13 matches, Maldives won one of their last two, and are seeking a good start to 2025. In a November double-header with Singapore, they won one and lost the other match.
Their 2-1 defeat marked Maldives' fourth straight match against Bangladesh, having also drawn 1-1 and lost 2-1 earlier in their World Cup qualification matches.
Playing their fourth straight away match, Maldives will hope to better their run on the road, which currently reads six defeats in seven. They did win two of their last three friendly matches though; one of them against Pakistan.
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India - Maldives Key Points
- India scored only three goals in the last five matches.
- Three of India’s last four matches had under 2.5 goals.
- Three of Maldives’ last five matches had under 2.5 goals.
- At home, in the last four matches, India scored only one goal.
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Our India vs Maldives Prediction
There is a growing concern over the low-scoring returns at the India national team. This has occasioned the return from retirement of Sunil Chhetri, 20 years since he debuted for the national team. While the focus is solely on the Asian Cup qualifiers, a lack of goals has been singled as a concern.
Maldives aren’t known to be the best of attackers either, and their head-to-head form against India won’t help. Even with Chhetri’s return, we still don’t expect a lot of goals. Our prediction for India v Maldives is for under 2.5.
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All tips are fully researched and given in good faith, but profits cannot be guaranteed.
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