2022 World Cup hosts Qatar are heading into their second World Cup group game with very few out there giving them much hope of even getting a goal as Senegal meet with them at the Al Thumama Stadium in Doha.
Despite Qatar’s woes in the last game against Ecuador, Senegal were barely any better and both nations ended up losing their game 2-0. Ecuador were dominant from the first whistle against Qatar and should have really had more goals on the board in the 2-0 win.
#Qatar2022 Group Stage Round 2 Qatar 🆚 Senegal ⏰ 4 PM, Friday 25 November 🏟 Al Thumama Stadium#AlAnnabi #FIFAWorldCup#AllForAlAnnabi pic.twitter.com/CkhZZsA8MU— Qatar Football Association (@QFA_EN) November 22, 2022
#Qatar2022 Group Stage Round 2 Qatar 🆚 Senegal ⏰ 4 PM, Friday 25 November 🏟 Al Thumama Stadium#AlAnnabi #FIFAWorldCup#AllForAlAnnabi pic.twitter.com/CkhZZsA8MU
Enner Valencia got both of them from the three efforts on target for Ecuador, both coming inside the first half.
Combine this with his brutally unfortunate disallowed goal, and Valencia would have left the Al Bayt Stadium upset that he didn't get a well-deserved hat-trick.
Ecuador also restricted Qatar to barely anything of their own as well, as Qatar had only five efforts towards goal and not a single shot on target. In fact, they barely managed to put together any attacking threats throughout the game.
If the hosts are to get through this game, a victory is a must here. Ecuador and the Netherlands are already on three points each, but with the Netherlands expected to get through pretty comfortably and Ecuador continuing to impress, no more slip ups can come in for Qatar.
Qatar even had to deal with four bookings in their first game against Ecuador as Akram Afif, star striker, Almoez Ali, Karim Boudiaf, and even the goalkeeper, Saad Al Sheeb, all received a yellow card. In fact, with 15 fouls in total, they looked extremely ill-disciplined throughout the game.
As for Senegal, they looked poor against the Netherlands, and although they were not expected to win, they failed to make any sort of impact on the game.
The loss of Sadio Mane has put the Africa Cup of Nations winners at a low-point heading into the World Cup, but the likes of Kalidou Koulibaly, Ismalia Sarr and Idrissa Gueye still make up a strong starting XI of well-established players on the international and club level fronts.
Senegal at least managed to have four shots on target in the 2-0 loss to the Netherlands, which was one more than the Dutch and with 15 efforts in total compared to the 10 of the Netherlands.
Forebet predicts a win here for Senegal and for the game to see under 2.5 goals as Qatar’s struggles continue on home soil.