Only separated on goal difference in their Asian World Cup qualifying third round, Saudi Arabia and China will do battle at the King Saud University Stadium on Thursday.

This group is led by Japan, then there will be a big fight for second place and for the qualifying spots because from second place to last place it is very balanced, only one point separates the teams and all have a chance of qualifying.

Saudi Arabia head into their first game of 2025 on Thursday aiming to end a winless run in Asian World Cup qualifying and strengthen their bid to reach the competition for a third consecutive time.

Saudi Arabia players have improved, the Saudi league has high quality players and with them these players have gained more experience and are playing better.

China, meanwhile, heads to Riyadh in an almost identical position with second spot in their sights. They are currently in last place because they are the team with the most goals conceded. China has to do better than it did against Saudi Arabia in its home country where it lost 2-1.

In my opinion, China will have a lot of difficulty qualifying - as they are a weak team, i think they should have more nationalized players to have more quality and the absence of Wu Lei makes them weaker.

Saudi Arabia is stronger and I believe they will beat this opponent again because they play at home where they are strong and China is a weaker team. The home team will dominate the game, will have more opportunities and will win one more game to have a chance of qualifying.

本届世界杯亚洲区预选赛第三轮，沙特队和中国队仅以净胜球差距领先，两队将于周四在沙特国王大学体育场展开对决。

这个小组由日本队领跑，然后将会为第二名和出线名额展开激烈的争夺，因为从第二名到最后一名的情况非常平衡，球队之间只有一分的差距，所有球队都有出线的机会。

沙特阿拉伯将于本周四迎来2025年的首场比赛，他们的目标是结束世界杯亚洲区预选赛的无胜纪录，并加强他们连续第三次进入世界杯的努力。

沙特阿拉伯的球员已经进步了，沙特联赛有高质量的球员，这些球员获得了更多的经验，踢得更好。

与此同时，中国队以几乎相同的位置前往利雅得，他们的目标是第二名。他们目前排在最后，因为他们是丢球最多的球队。中国队必须比在主场1 - 2输给沙特的比赛做得更好。

在我看来，中国队出线会有很多困难，因为他们是一支弱队，我认为他们应该有更多的国家队球员来提高质量，武磊的缺席会让他们变得更弱。

沙特阿拉伯更强大，我相信他们会再次击败对手，因为他们在主场比赛，他们是强大的，而中国是一支弱队。主队将统治比赛，将有更多的机会，并将赢得一场比赛有机会出线。