After suffering a 2-0 defeat to Lebanon, Bangladesh are in a vulnerable position once again in the SAFF Championship, aware that any result other than a victory against Maldives at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru today would leave them on the verge of exiting the competition in the group stage for the sixth straight time.

The match will kick off at 4:00pm.

Although Bangladesh know they have no alternative but to beat Maldives, who got off to a fine start by defeating Bhutan 2-0, to do so they will have to overcome three major concerns: their lack of goal threat, a habit of conceding late goals and their fragility in pressure situations.

Their inability to score goals has been a longstanding concern, with Bangladesh managing to net only 14 goals in their last 20 international matches since the Tri-nation Cup in Nepal in 2021. Interestingly, defenders have scored more than forwards in that time.

Conceding goals in the dying moments has also been a big concern and took the spotlight after the men in red and green conceded twice in the last moments against Lebanon after a valiant performance.

Another big headache going into the match will be Bangladesh's tendency to break down in crunch situations. On the eight occasions in the SAFF Championship when Bangladesh needed a positive result to avert an exit, they managed to survive only twice.

In the 1999 SAFF Championship, Bangladesh started their campaign with a goalless draw against India and needed a victory in their last match to progress and did so by emphatically defeating Pakistan 4-0. In the 2009 edition, Bangladesh needed just a draw against Sri Lanka to progress to the semifinals and did the job by defeating the Islanders 2-1.

On the other occasions, Bangladesh were knocked out by Maldives twice in 2011 and 2015 and by Nepal in 2018 and 2021. Sri Lanka and Pakistan sent Bangladesh home in 2008 and 2013.

After securing one point from the first two matches in the 2011 SAFF Championship, Bangladesh needed a win against Maldives to qualify but fell to a 1-3 defeat. Maldives beat them by an identical 3-1 scoreline in 2015 in the same situation after Bangladesh were desperate for a win following a 0-4 loss to Afghanistan.

In 2021, Bangladesh seemed to be on the right track following a 1-0 win over Sri Lanka and a 1-1 draw against India but their aspirations took a hit after they lost 2-0 to Maldives and they were eventually dumped out after conceding an 88th-minute penalty during a 1-1 draw with Nepal in the final group-stage match.

Maldives will now be looking to spoil Bangladesh's party again. The only question is whether the men in red and green can survive by besting the Islanders. Only time will tell.