Hong Kong continue ramping up preparations for the 2023 AFC Asia Cup as they take on Thailand in a friendly at the Hong Kong Stadium on Monday.
Having lost each of the last three meetings between the sides, the Dragons will head into the game looking to get one over the visitors and pick up their first win since last September.
Match preview
Hong Kong were condemned to a second consecutive defeat last Thursday when they were beaten 1-0 by Vietnam at the Lach Tray Stadium.
Thirty-year-old defender Que Ngoc Hai came up trumps for the Golden Dragon as he scored the only goal of the game in the 31st minute to hand them a fifth consecutive friendly win since June 2022.
Prior to that, Hong Kong saw their three-game unbeaten run come to an end on March 28, when they fell to a 2-0 loss against Malaysia at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium.
Jorn Andersen's men have now failed to win eight of their last nine friendly matches — losing five and claiming three draws — with a 2-0 victory over Myanmar in September 2022 being the exception.
While Hong Kong will be looking to end this poor run, next up is a Thailand side who have won each of their previous three encounters since a 2-1 loss in November 2003.
Thailand kicked off the new year on a high as they stormed to a record-extending seventh AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup title back in January.
The War Elephants picked up a comfortable 3-1 victory over Malaysia in their two-legged semi-final clash to reach a 10th final where they edged out Vietnam 3-2 on aggregate.
However, Thailand have failed to win their three outings since then, suffering successive defeats to Syria and the United Arab Emirates in March before last Friday's 2-2 draw with Chinese Taipei.
With the scores level at the Kaohsiung National Stadium, Wang Ruei scored an own goal to put the visitors ahead, but Chen Ting-yang responded three minutes later to force a share of the spoils.
Mano Polking's men head into Monday's game without a win in any of their last six away games across all competitions, losing three and claiming three draws since a 5-0 victory over Brunei Darussalam in December 2022.
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Team News
Huang Yang has started each of Hong Kong's last three matches and we expect the 39-year-old to retain his role in midfield, alongside Wai Wong and former Guangzhou City man Chun Lok Tan.
Despite their poor attacking display against Vietnam, Andersen could name an unchanged front three of Ming-Him Sun, Tsz-Chun Law and 26-year-old Matthew Orr.
With his opener against Chinese Taipei, Teerasil Dangda now has 16 goal involvements for club and country in 2023 and the 35-year-old striker should spearhead Thailand's attack.
Dangda, who has made 123 appearances for the War Elephants, is currently third in the nation's all-time scoring chart and will be looking to add to his 62 goals.
He should be joined in the final third by Supachok Sarachart and Kawasaki Frontale forward Chanathip Songkrasin, who has 12 international goals under his belt.
At the centre of the park, we expect an unchanged midfield trio of Thitipan Puangchan, Weerathep Pomphan and Sarach Yooyen, who is the second-most capped player in the squad.
Hong Kong possible starting lineup:
Tse; Tsz-Ho, Helio, Leung, Tsui; Wong, Yang, Tan; Sun, Orr, Law
Thailand possible starting lineup:
Kaomhai; Notchaiya, Kaman, Praisuwan, Mickelson; Puangchan, Pomphan, Yooyen; Sarachart, Songkrasin, Dangda
We say: Hong Kong 1-2 Thailand
Hong Kong and Thailand have struggled to get going of late and will be looking to pick up a morale-boosting result on Monday. However, we predict that the War Elephants will build on their draw against Chinese Taipei and claim a narrow victory in this one.
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