India vs Australia, AFC Asian Cup 2024: A Weakness Of Socceroos That Blue Tigers Can Exploit

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India are set to play Australia in their first AFC Asian Cup 2024 match on 13th January. The Socceroos are a formidable bunch who are confident of a good result following a successful World Cup 2022. However, there are chinks in the armour, which means World No. 25 are not invincible.

For an efficient coach like Igor Stimac, who has been studying the weaknesses of the Australian team with his entire team involved, India would look to hinder the Socceroos attackers' creativity. That seems to be the weakest point for India's toughest opponent.

Following the World Cup, the Australian football team played some attack-minded opponents. However, they took on defense-minded Bahrain in their warm-up friendly ahead of the AFC Asian Cup 2024. This match brought out their weakness in the final third. They got the lead through an own goal in the first half. Mitchell Duke gave them the 2-0 lead after the one-hour mark. In the entire match, they only put out only 3 shots on target.

India vs Australia: Absence of Mathew Leckie

Additionally, coach Graham Arnold doesn't have his regular Mathew Leckie in the right wing. Leckie had to excluded from the squad with a hamstring injury. The Indian football team can exploit these to turn the tide of their first AFC Asian Cup 2024 match in their favour. They will still have a tough job to do as Australia still have some good players to deploy in their final third.

With Leckie out, the coach played Sam Silvera alongside Duke against Bahrain. Even though, Duke is currently out of the season, he remains a no-brainer selection for the coach. Duke can be expected to be deployed in the central forward position with Silvera alongside him.

Bruno Fornaroli is another option in the final third with 13 goals from 10 matches for his club this season. The right wing could either go to Martin Boyle or the versatile Connor Metcalfe. Lastly, coach Arnold trusts Goodwin in the left wing. He has also provided 4 assists in the last 3 matches for the Socceroos.