UAE vs Kuwait prediction 24.12.2024 | Arabian Gulf Cup

• Competition: Arabian Gulf Cup
• Date: Tuesday, 24th December, 2024
• Kickoff: 17:30 UK / 18:30 CET
• Venue: Jaber Al Ahmad International Stadium (Kuwait)

On Tuesday evening, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait will face off in the second round of the Arabian Gulf Cup at Jaber Al Ahmad International Stadium in Kuwait.

United Arab Emirates are #63 on the FIFA World Ranking List. They are also two-time Arabian Gulf Cup winners (2007 & 2013), but they haven't had much success lately, finishing the competition in the group stage in the previous two tournaments. Still, in their most recent competition (WC Qualifiers), UAE were solid, considering they are sitting in 3rd place with 10 points after six rounds, and reaching the World Cup is a real possibility.

Kuwait are by far the most successful team in the Arabian Gulf Cup, winning the competition on ten occasions. Yet, their last title was back in 2010, and that will hardly change any time soon. However, this year is the perfect opportunity to make an upset since the Cup is played in Kuwait. Recently, their performances have been subpar, especially in the WC Qualifiers, as they are sitting in 5th place with only four points in six rounds and could easily fail to make it to the fourth round.

UAE vs Kuwait pick: UAE to win

UAE opened the competition with a 1:1 draw against Qatar in a match where UAE were a lot better and deserved all three points. They had ten more goal attempts (13 vs 3) and 65% ball possession. They have been playing well lately, as they won the previous two games (in the WC Qualifiers) against Qatar and Kyrgyzstan with a combined goal difference of 8:0.

Meanwhile, Kuwait also opened the competition with a 1:1 draw in a pretty close match against Oman. Even though Kuwait hosts the competition, we do not trust them to secure a positive result. They haven't had a win in the last ten games in all competitions and they faced moslty teams weaker than UAE.

In the previous h2h game, UAE won 1:0. Considering the difference in form and all the above, we believe that UAE are much closer to winning the upcoming game.