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The Maldives vs Bhutan lock horns at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bangalore, India on Thursday in the 2023 SAFF Championship.
Telecast:
The SAFF Championships 2023 match between Maldives vs Bhutan will be live telecast on Star Sports Network and Disney Hotstar in India.
Maldives vs Bhutan: Match Preview
Maldives will square off against Bhutan in their first game of the SAFF Championship on Thursday evening at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bangalore, Karnataka.
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Maldives are placed in Group B in the SAFF C'ships along with Bhutan, Bangladesh and Lebanon.
Maldives have shown great composure in their last couple of matches as they won over Sri Lanka 1-0 in the third round of the qualifiers for the AFC Asian Cup.
Post that win, they won once more against Pakistan in a friendly match held at the Laamu Gan Zone Stadium.
Coming into the SAFF Championship, Bhutan faced neighbours Nepal and Laos. They had to face a 2-1 defeat against Laos at the Dashrath Rangasala in Nepal.
But they bounced back well as they managed to draw the game against Nepal at the same venue.
Team News:
Bhutan:
Head coach Pema Dorji has summoned 23 players for the SAFF games, most of whom are inexperienced. Only five players, including captain Karma Tshering and vice-captain Chencho Gyeltshen, have more than 10 caps to their names.
Bhutan:
Gyeltshen is the most capped player in Bhutan's history with 39, and he is also the most prolific, having scored 11 goals so far.
There are six uncapped players in the squad.
Maldives vs Bhutan: Head-to-Head
The two teams have squared off eight times and Maldives have a 100 per cent win record against Bhutan, winning all the games played.
Predicted lineups:
Maldives:
Hussain Shareef, Hussain Yoosuf, Ali Samooh, Ahmed Nooman, Shifaz Hassan, Hamza Mohamed, Mohamed Irufaan, Ibrahim Aisham, Hassan Raif, Hassan Naiz, Hussain Nihan
Bhutan:
Tshering Dendup, Chimi Tshewang, Nima Wangdi, Tenzin Norbu, Kelzang Jigmi, Kinga Wangchuk, Phub Thinley, Kinzang Tenzin, Nima Tshering, Chencho Gyeltshen, Yeshi Dorji.