Wales v Iran: Dragons look to keep Group B hopes alive

Wales take on Iran in their second group game at the Ahmed bin Ali Stadium in Al-Rayyan on Friday morning.

The match is crucial for Wales if they wish to progress through to the knockout rounds of the tournament with a tough fixture against England next Tuesday in their final Group B game.

Rob Page’s side are coming off a Jekyll and Hyde-style performance against the USA which eventually ended 1-1.

The addition of Kieffer Moore in the second half was crucial as it gave the Dragons an outlet to progress the ball up the pitch. This was lacking in the first half due to having the diminutive Dan James up top alongside Gareth Bale.

On the other hand, Iran will be reeling after they were dispatched 6-2 by Gareth Southgate’s England in their opening game.

Apart from Mehdi Taremi’s two goals, Iran offered nothing throughout the game and were regularly overrun in the wide areas in particular.

Both fullbacks, Milad Mohammadi and Sadegh Moharrami, were terrible and rarely even pressured England’s wingers and wingbacks meaning Iran were constantly overrun in the wing space.

This will undoubtedly be an area of focus for Page due to his squad’s talent in wide areas. It would be no surprise if the manager changed the Welsh system from the 5-3-2 we saw against the US to a 5-2-3 to exploit this advantage.

As a result, 21-year-old winger Brennan Johnson is possibly in line to start. The Nottingham Forest youngster played brilliantly off the bench against the US, and he could cause Iranian right-back Mohammadi some serious problems.

Johnson will be competing with Dan James for a starting role down the right, with the on-loan Fulham winger often favoured by Page. However, James played poorly against the US leading to his substitution at halftime, so it would not be a surprise if the 25-year-old lost his place.

The Iranians will be without goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand because of the concussion he sustained in their opener against the Three Lions. The Persepolis FC player is a significant absentee for Iran due to his massive throw.

The keeper is a key part of the way that Iran play, trying to sit deep and hit their opposition on the counterattack using his supreme distribution.

As a result of this, and Iran’s poor showing against England, it is unlikely that Wales will face much resistance in the game, which will set up a massive final game against old rivals England to qualify for the knockout rounds.