Team Preview: Saudi Arabia

Once again a coach was fired and Al-Johar became caretaker coach again. If he loses to Iran, then it might have been his last game in charge. I personally don't know if I should hope for him losing his job which would result in Saudi Arabia then getting a better coach, or him not losing and staying put and along the way losing it. Maybe a draw would be the best result, but breaking Saudi Arabia's incredible home record(their last defeat at home dates back to Lawrence of Arabia...wait..they didn't even lose then..don't know when was the last time they lost at home) would be sweet and a huge achievement for Ali Daei.
Saudi Arabia will most probably miss their center forward Malek Moaz but their star player Yasser Al-Qahtani should be fit. Al-Qahtani might not have made it at Manchester City, but still, he is one of the 5 best attacking players in Asia. Overall, I would argue that Saudi Arabia's attacking potential is still one of the best in Asia. Their players have good movement, creativity and some speed. Their midfield is quite good with Shalhoub, Autef and Ateef pulling the strings offensively and Khaled Aziz and Saud Khariri keeping the midfield together. Their defense is maybe their main weakness, specially on the wingbacks and in a central defense, that hasn't played too many games together. A 3-men-attacking line without a real target man might just benefit Iran most, as the defense would get confused on who has what to do and whom to mark. Overall, although the probable absence of Moaz weights a bit, the team has proved in the last games, as an example the friendly against a near full strength Paraguay, that they won't miss too much quality and that the center piece of their team is the midfield anyway, and that is stuffed.
But, we could still be optimistic about a win, as lately our clubs have done very well against Saudi Arabian clubs and there might be a mentality change in the squad now that didn't exist before. A tactical smart game plan, trying to hit Saudi Arabia on the break and making life for their playmakers as difficult as possible, might just be the key. Ehsan Hajsafi and Rezaei might just have lots of fun against Saudi Arabia's fullbacks Al-Harbi and Shuhail, but if Saudi Arabia scores early and they gain some sort of momentum, the game could end up in a debacle too.

Player to watch: Abdoh Autef
Creative playmaker of the team always good for the element of surprise. Difficult to contain, and with deadly passing and strong on set pieces.

Probable line-up
Al-Naje-Al-Harbi,Tukar,Hawsawi,Shuhail-Autef,Khariri,Aziz,Shalhoub-Al-Qahtani,Bin Sultan