Myanmar and Kyrgyzstan square off on Friday in World Cup Qualifying action in Japan.

Myanmar come into this game on the back of a 10-0 defeat at the hands of Japan, while their opponents fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat to Mongolia on Monday.

Match preview

In their last qualifying game, Myanmar fell to a crushing defeat as they travelled to take on group leaders Japan, who had won all six games up to that point.

Yuya Osako bagged a five-goal haul, while a Takumi Minamino brace and goals from Hidemasa Morita, Daichi Kamada and Ko Itakura capped off a poor day for Myanmar, as they were handed their heaviest ever defeat with a 10-0 thrashing.

Before that, Antoine Hey's men made a fairly solid start to the qualifying campaign in 2019, as they won two of their opening four games to move onto six points.

The Asian Lions now sit fourth in Group F of the Asian Qualifiers, but a victory on Friday would see them leapfrog their opponents, who sit just one point ahead.

They will be desperate to quickly bounce back from that crushing defeat with a result that would also see them move up in the group, although their opponents will be hopeful of maintaining their position in the top three.

Kyrgyzstan suffered a disappointing defeat last time out, as they took on a Mongolia side who had lost five of their first six qualifying games while conceding 27 goals in that time.

Despite that, it was the group's basement side who led throughout, as Oyunbaataryn Mijiddorj netted the only goal of the game in the first half.

That stretched their winless run to three games in the qualifying group, having had a strong start with two wins from their opening three games.

One of those victories came against Friday's opponents, as Aleksandr Krestinin's men thrashed Myanmar 7-0, with Edgar Bernhardt netting a hat-trick alongside a brace from Alimardon Shukurov and goals from Gulzhigit Alykulov and Valerii Kichin.

They will be hopeful of repeating that with another win on Friday, as The White Eagles look to make a return to winning ways and cement themselves in the top three of the group.

Team News

Only two players in the Myanmar squad currently play outside of their home nation, with both midfielder Hlaing Bo Bo and forward Suan Lam Mang plying their trade in Thailand.

The latter should lead their line, having netted a commendable tally of seven goals in his 26 international appearances.

Meanwhile, Hlaing Bo Bo is one of the most experienced players in the squad with 31 caps, and he should again line up in the midfield with the likes of Maung Maung Lwin, Yan Naing Oo and Tin Win Aung.

The Kyrgyzstan line will be led by Mirlan Murzaev, who has netted 10 goals in 47 appearances for his nation.

While he has the most caps in the squad, midfielders such as Kairat Zhyrgalbek Uulu, Edgar Bernhardt and Farhat Musabekov also boast plenty of experience, having each played over 35 international games.

Myanmar possible starting lineup:
Naing; Htan, Maw Yar, Kyaw, Win; Oo, Bo Bo, Aung, Lwin; Mang, Tun

Kyrgyzstan possible starting lineup:
Kashuba; Kichin, Kozubaev, Iusupov, Otkeev; Uulu, Bernhardt, Musabekov, Duyshobekov; Murzaev, Rustamov

We say: Myanmar 0-3 Kyrgyzstan

The recent 10-0 defeat could crush Myanmar's confidence, and we see Kyrgyzstan taking advantage of that slump to pick up a victory on Friday.

This should be their best chance to break a disappointing three-game winless run, having previously made a strong start to the qualifying games, especially considering they thrashed the same opponents in 2019.

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