Saudi Arabia vs United Arab Emirates — Tips & Analysis

Under 2: This final puts the two hardest teams to score against in the tournament in the same game. Saudi Arabia have not let in a goal all competition, 390 minutes across four games. They beat Kuwait 1-0, Oman 3-0 and Iraq 2-0, then tied 0-0 with Qatar. They score just over a goal a game, let in under one, and their games have almost 2 goals in them on average. The UAE are built the same way. They have let in one goal in four games here, and they tie a lot, with 7 ties in their last 16 games. The history says the same thing. These two have met seven times recently and those games averaged 2 goals in total, with the last one finishing 0-0. Tired legs point the same way. Both sides played their semi-finals three days ago, and Saudi Arabia's went to extra time and penalties. Neither team created much to get here, and Saudi Arabia barely made a chance against Qatar. A 1-0 in Jeddah, off a set piece or a scrappy break, is how this reads, and that is the low-scoring final we want. There are two real warnings. 8 of the UAE's last 16 games had 3 or more goals, so they can open up when a game asks for it. A final can also run past 90 minutes, and only the 90 minutes count here. We are still on the quiet game.