Chinese Taipei round off a doomed 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign on Tuesday when they face off against Kuwait at the Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium.
Vom Ca-nhum's side are destined to finish at the bottom of Group B having failed to pick up a single point so far, while Kuwait's chances of progression are hanging by the thinnest of threads.
Match preview
The conclusion of Chinese Taipei's World Cup qualifying campaign cannot come quickly enough for their dispirited supporters, who have witnessed their side try and fail seven times to register a point on the board so far.
A narrow 2-1 defeat to Jordan on the opening matchday represents their most positive result of Group B, as they have since been blown out of the water by their opposition and are guaranteed to finish bottom of the pile no matter what happens on the final day.
The world's 141st-ranked nation at least managed to find the back of the net against Australia last time out, but they were already 4-0 down before Wei-Jie Gao netted a consolation effort, and Mitchell Duke would proceed to score his second of the night to condemn Chinese Taipei to a 5-1 loss on June 7.
With only three goals scored and 32 conceded across their seven games of qualification so far, Chinese Taipei can only pray for better fortunes as they take their place in the playoff round for qualifying for the Asian Cup, but they are unlikely to experience any sort of morale boost on the final day against Kuwait.
Despite playing with 10 men for the final 30 minutes of their encounter with Jordan, Kuwait managed to hold their adversaries to a goalless stalemate, meaning that the hunt for second spot in Group B will go right down to the wire on the final day.
Kuwait manager Andres Carrasco lamented his side's ability to kill off the encounter in the first half, and only the most ideal set of circumstances will see the Spaniard's side live to fight another day in qualification for Qatar 2022.
Second-placed Jordan remain three points ahead of third-placed Kuwait heading into the final matchday, but a daunting clash with group winners Australia awaits the former, and Kuwait must hope that the Socceroos can do them a favour while they attempt to march to an expected win versus Chinese Taipei.
By playing out a goalless stalemate with Jordan, Kuwait have now gone eight games without a win in all competitions, but they will have very fond memories of their first encounter with Chinese Taipei in Group B, as the Blue Wave taught their upcoming opponents a footballing lesson in a 9-0 victory.
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Team News
With nothing but pride on the line for Chinese Taipei, Ca-nhum may be tempted to give some of his up-and-coming players a run-out in this battle, although he will not want his side to go out with a whimper.
Yoshitaka Komori lasted all of 47 minutes against Australia and could find his spot at risk as a result, with 32-cap midfielder Lin Chang-lun pushing for a recall to the side.
Kuwait centre-back Khalid Ebrahim was given his marching orders with 59 minutes on the clock against Jordan and will miss out here, so Hamad Al Harbi ought to deputise in defence.
Carrasco has no other selection concerns to contend with, but failure to find the back of the net last time out should see veteran goalscorers Bader Al Mutawa and Yousef Nasser considered for starts.
Chinese Taipei possible starting lineup:
Shih; Pai, T Chen, W Chen, Cheng, C Chen; Mao, Wu, Lin, Estevez; Gao
Kuwait possible starting lineup:
K Al Rashidi; Al Sanea, Al Harbi, Al Hajeri, Al Qallaf; Al Dhefiri, Al Ansari; Al Rasheedi, Ayedh, Al Faneeni; Nasser
We say: Chinese Taipei 0-3 Kuwait
While both sides are entering this game on the back of demoralising winless runs, there is far more on the line for Kuwait, whose superior quality ought to shine through in this fixture.
Chinese Taipei would do well to keep the scoreline as respectable as possible after shipping nine to their opponents in 2019, and while we cannot envisage a repeat of that drubbing this week, Kuwait should still have no trouble comfortably coming up trumps.
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 Kuwait win with a probability of 43.68%. A win for Chinese Taipei had a probability of 34.21% and a draw had a probability of 22.1%.
The most likely scoreline for a Kuwait win was 1-2 with a probability of 8.58%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (5.6%) and 1-3 (5.35%). The likeliest Chinese Taipei win was 2-1 (7.52%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (9.18%). The actual scoreline of 1-2 was predicted with an 8.6% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 1-2 win for Kuwait in this match.
