Uzbekistan and Venezuela will meet for the first time on the international stage at King Abdullah Sports Stadium in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
They each won their first matches of 2023 last Friday, with the White Wolves edging Bolivia 1-0, while La Vinotinto got past Saudi Arabia 2-1.
Match preview
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Having punched their ticket to the 2024 Asian Cup last summer, Srecko Katanec has 10 months to prepare his young side for that competition.
They began the year positively with a solid performance against Bolivia, scoring after 36 minutes while maintaining a strong shape defensively, positing their third successive clean sheet.
There are plenty of talented youngsters for Katanec to work with, as only two players chosen for this international window are over 30, but despite their age, they are producing some strong showings, losing just one of their last 11 matches since the beginning of 2022.
Before their game against Bolivia, they had not played a team from South America since March 2019, and their victory on Friday was the first for this nation against a CONMEBOL team.
After losing three of his first four matches in charge of the Turanians, these youngsters have begun to adapt to the attack-minded 4-3-3 approach traditionally used by Katanec, scoring multiple goals in eight of their last 11 games.
Clearly, this group have plenty of continuity, which is no surprise given that most of the squad feature domestically in the Uzbekistan Super League.
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It was a successful debut match for Fernando Batista as head coach of Venezuela as his team started brightly, going up by two in just 34 minutes and holding off the Saudi pressure to extend their unbeaten run to four matches.
In his first game in charge, we saw Batista employ a basic 4-4-2 formation, though the Venezuelans rarely came up to attack after taking the lead, finishing with 28% possession.
Some of their most vital attributes emerged throughout that contest, as they often sat back behind the ball and made the most of their counter-attacks, scoring on three of their four targeted efforts.
Asian opponents seem to bring out the best in them, with La Vinotinto scoring first in their last four games against that region, notching seven first-half goals.
It has been nearly two years since they suffered a defeat after drawing first blood, falling 3-1 to Brazil in an October 2021 World Cup qualifier despite going in front after 11 minutes.
They have proven to be a solid and well-organised group defensively in these friendlies, conceding in just one of their last seven such encounters dating back to last year.
Team News
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Katanec made several changes to the White Wolves starting 11 against Bolivia compared to the side that began their previous encounter versus Russia as Husniddin Aliqulov, Khojiakbar Alijonov, Jasurbek Yakhshiboev and Jaloliddin Masharipov were all newcomers to the lineup.
Saidazamat Mirsaidov is the only player selected for this match who is still seeking his first international cap with Uzbekistan, while Oston Urunov can reach double figures in that department on Tuesday.
Spezia striker Eldor Shomurodov notched the only goal in their triumph against Bolivia, the 34th for his country, moving him into a tie with Maxim Shatskikh for the most all-time, while goalkeeper Utkir Yusupov collected a clean sheet.
There were a slew of new faces in the opening lineup for Batista in his first match in charge of the Venezuelans, with Jhon Chancellor, Alexander Gonzalez, Tomas Rincon and Salomon Rondon being the only players to keep their spot in the starting 11 from their previous friendly against Syria.
Yordan Osorio needs one more cap to reach 20 on the international stage, Samuel Sosa made just his second appearance with the national team on Friday, while Jean Fuentes, Telasco Segovia and Brayan Alcocer all collected their first caps with the senior squad.
Rondon, the all-time leading goalscorer for Venezuela, put home his 39th for the national team last week, while he is now just seven caps short of reaching 100 internationally, and Josef Martinez notched his 14th goal with La Vinotinto, putting him just two behind Ruberth Moran for fourth all-time.
Uzbekistan possible starting lineup:
Yusupov; Alijonov, Aliqulov, Eshmurodov, Ashurmatov; Hamrobekov, Shukrov; Urunov, Masharipov, Turgunboev; Shomurodov
Venezuela possible starting lineup:
Graterol; Hernandez, Quintero, Osorio, Navarro; Bello, Jose Martinez, Rincon; Moreno; Josef Martinez, Rondon
We say: Uzbekistan 0-1 Venezuela
The White Wolves have been the aggressors in most of their recent matches, but outside of Shomurodov, we do not believe there is as much overall goalscoring quality when compared to their opponents.
On the other hand, the Venezuelans have proven to be a sharp defensive unit that can sustain their share of pressure, while their attacking depth should give them a slight edge in this contest.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joel Lefevre
