SAUDI ARABIA have earned plenty of admirers at this FIFA World Cup with their swashbuckling displays and head into their final Group C game against Mexico with a chance of reaching the last 16.
After stunning Argentina with a 2-1 victory in their opener, the Green Falcons were unlucky to lose 2-0 to Poland having enjoyed most of the pressure. Our man Gabriel backed the Poles that night but was made to sweat before a defensive blunder allowed Robert Lewandowski to seal the points.
Playing in Qatar has made the Saudi's games pretty much home fixtures, with passionate backing from the stands, and they will fancy their chances against a Mexican side that has been punchless so far.
Gerardo Martino headed into Qatar 2022 under pressure after some unconvincing displays and Mexico's performances thus far have only turned up the heat on him.
They need a penalty save from Guillermo Ochoa to escape with a 0-0 draw against the Poles then failed to lay a glove on vulnerable Argentina as they crashed to a 2-0 defeat.
Yet Mexico still stand a chance of reaching the last 16, although a lot depends on the result between Poland and Argentina in the other group game. If the Poles win then a victory over the Saudis would see Mexico through but any other result in that other game would leave Martino's side relying on a big goal-difference swing.
How the bookies view it
Despite their poor performances in the other two group games, Mexico are Highbet's 31/50 hot favourites for this one. Plenty of punters will fancy a nibble at the 18/5 on offer for the Saudis while the draw pays 31/10.
Head to head
These sides have only faced off twice before and Mexico will be hoping the results in those games are a good omen. They romped to a 5-0 win at the Confederations Cup in 1997 before winning 5-1 in the same competition two years later.
Players to watch
I've really enjoyed watching Salem Al-Dawsari and his goal against Argentina will live long in the memory. The Saudi skipper missed a penalty against the Poles so he will be desperate to make amends here. Al-Dawsari is 19/5 at Highbet for anytime scorer while McBookie price him at a tempting 6/1 for an assist.
Hirving Lozano still looks Mexico's best hope of goals, although the Napoli winger has yet to spark to life at this World Cup. He's 177/100 for a goal at Highbet and the assist pays 11/4 with McBookie.
Anything else catch the eye?
The handbrake needs to come off for Mexico in this one after knowing that draws would have been decent results in their last two games. Saudi Arabia also need to go for the win so it bodes well for a good game and that's why over 2.5 goals is a best 4/5 at Bet365.
Backing both teams to score is a bit better at 20/23 with SBK while over 1.75 Mexico goals looks decent at 23/25 with Highbet.
I tipped Poland offsides against the Saudis after Argentina were caught out by their brave trap 10 times in the opener. So it was sod's law that not a single offside came up in the whole game. That could change in this one though and Unibet have over 4.5 match offsides at 10/11.
Saleh Al-Shehri should lead the line once more for Saudi Arabia and I like the look of the 11/10 on offer at Unibet for him to have over 0.5 shots on target.
This World Cup match between Saudi Arabia and Mexico will be played on Nov 30, 2022 and kick off at 19:00. Check below for our tipsters best Saudi Arabia vs Mexico prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
