Syria nearly picked up a second point in Korea Republic when Omar Khribin cancelled out Hwang In-beom’s opener with seven minutes of play to go, but Son Heung-min secured the three points for his country in the dying embers of the match to consign the Syrians to their second loss of the campaign, having also suffered defeat to Islamic Republic of Iran on the opening day before managing a credible 1-1 draw against the United Arab Emirates.

Lebanon on the other hand have yet to score in three games, having had two goalless draws so far, one on Matchday One against the UAE, and the other coming against Iraq four days ago although they enjoyed spells of dominance and had some clear chances to score. The two stalemates are separated by a narrow 1-0 Matchday Two defeat to Korea Republic.

Reinvigorated by the return of Al Ahli Saudi FC talisman Omar Al Soma (pictured below), Syria have considerable firepower with Khribin and Mahmoud Al Mawas also in peak from. While no absences have been reported, there have been additions in the form of attacking midfielder Mohamed Osman and midfielder Aias Aosman who were not available for selection against Paulo Bento’s side.

Ivan Hasek’s Lebanon go into this game with no absences to report, with goalkeeper Mostafa Matar fit for contention following his struggles with injury against Iraq.

The two sides last met competitively in an AFC competition in 2010, when Syria beat Lebanon 2-0 away, before repeating the feat at home 4-0 en route to 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification.

Syria v Lebanon
Venue: King Abdullah II Stadium, Amman
Kick-off: 19:00 hours (UTC+3)