India vs Australia At AFC Asian Cup 2024: Socceroos Midfield Tough To Break For Blue Tigers

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India take on Australia to start their journey in the AFC Asian Cup 2024. The Socceroos' FIFA ranking is 25th which makes their team the strongest opponent in the group for the Blue Tigers and their robust midfield will be a task.

This Australian football team was able to qualify for the World Cup knockout stages only for the second time in the team's history in 2022. One of the main reasons has been their steady midfield.

Out of everything, coach Graham Arnold has had to worry the least about his engine room. However, his preferred regular winger Mathew Leckie is out with a hamstring injury. As a result, Leckie has been left out of the squad for the AFC Asian Cup.

While in the 4-4-2 position, the coach has been playing Connor Metcalfe in the right wing in Leckie's absence. The left wing should feature baCraig Goodwin. Additionally, Keanu Baccus and Jackson Irvine are the preferred duo in the central midfield for coach Arnold.

Metcalfe has been a regular for Germany's second-tier side FC St. Pauli. He plays in both the central and wing positions. The Australia coach has been featuring him in the same manner as well.

India vs Australia: Baccus and Irvine in double pivot

The coach usually rests easily, deploying the duo - Baccus and Irvine in the central midfield position. Irvine starts regularly alongside his national teammate, Metcalfe at FC St. Pauli. Whereas, Baccus is a regular for Scottish top-tier side St. Mirren.

Irvine has scored twice and assisted once in the post-World Cup friendly campaign for Australia. Whereas, even though the coach has started Baccus regularly, he was rested in their last friendly before AFC Asian Cup 2024 friendly against Bahrain.

Coach Arnold has good enough midfielders in his backup if he wants to switch it up to a five-midfielder setup. The Australian football team midfield list also includes Aiden O'Neill, Riley McGree, and Patrick Yazbek.

The Indian football team will have to look for ways to break through this balanced midfield. Additionally, these players are also familiar with the terrain after playing the World Cup in Qatar in 2022.