The Socceroos are set to battle Jordan in an early-morning clash in Amman on Friday.
So far, the Socceroos’ World Cup qualification campaign has gone relatively smoothly, winning all three games and moving closer to sealing top spot in their group. Most of the challenges have come from travelling to remote locations, but Thursday night (early Friday morning AEDT) sees them face their toughest test on the pitch as they face off against Jordan.
They are the team closest to Australia in terms of quality and will be eager to bring the high-flying Asian champions down a level by leapfrogging them on the table. An Australian victory would open up a five-point gap on the rest of the group at the halfway point of this round of qualifiers.
Tactical approach on the road
Despite being the away team, the Socceroos will be keen to come out and be the aggressive team. Matt McKay spoke of the team’s desire to hush the hostile crowd and the best way to do that is to go out and try to score as quickly as possible. While Jordan may be the most competitive on-field team, the Socceroos are still going to be the best team on the pitch and will need to show that from the outset.
Jordanian motivation
Currently sitting on seven points, Jordan had a disappointing 0-0 draw with Kyrgyzstan in their last home game in September before beating Bangladesh 4-0 in Dhaka. Right now they are chasing the Socceroos for top spot in the group as well as trying to hold off Kyrgyzstan who are just three points behind them. If they want to advance to the next stage of World Cup qualifiers they will need to finish second and have a higher points total than half of the other second place finishers. Currently, they are behind on goal difference so they will be desperate to make sure they do not fall behind in that race.
Projected lineup
The first change comes in defence with Trent Sainsbury replacing Bailey Wright who deputised admirably last month. With Mile Jedinak still out injured, the holding midfield pair should remain as Mark Milligan and Aaron Mooy. With the desire to go on the attack, the front four could be made up of Mathew Leckie, Massimo Luongo, Tom Rogic and Tim Cahill. They could line up as a 3-1 attacking setup or even with Leckie and Cahill playing as out-and-out strikers to try and bamboozle the defenders. However, the chances are Postecoglou will stick to the formation that has worked so far.
Socceroos Expected XI (4-2-3-1): Federici (GK); Elrich, Spiranovic, Sainsbury, Davidson; Milligan, Mooy; Leckie, Luongo, Rogic; Cahill.
Player to watch – Mathew Leckie
The winger is currently in fine form in Germany and looms as one of the Socceroos’ key attacking weapons. His pace down the flank will be key to hitting Jordan on the counter-attack and getting in behind the defenders. With a forward like Cahill leading the line, he will need to have his delivery on the mark and trust the captain to do his job.
Prediction
A slow start and the Socceroos could struggle to get in the game. Should that be the case, expect the visitors to find their rhythm before goals either side of half time settle the score.
Jordan 0 Socceroos 2
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