India vs Australia AFC Asian Cup: Attack Or Defend? Will Igor Stimac Use Attack-Minded Fullbacks Or Play Safe With Defensive Options?

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India vs Australia AFC Asian Cup 2024: India's first AFC Asian Cup 2024 fixture is against the group's strongest team, Socceroos. Now, considering the choices coach Igor Stimac has for players, he could take a more attacking approach.

Coach Stimac has had to deal with three crucial injury blows ahead of India's AFC Asian Cup 2024 squad selection. Anwar Ali, Jeakson Singh, and Ashique Kuruniyan are the key players who seem to be out of the run for this tournament.

Jeakson Singh would've been an easy choice in the middle of the pitch. However, with him gone, the coach could pick Suresh Singh Wangjam to feature alongside Anirudh Thapa. Even if Thapa starts deep, with his talents, he should be able to help with the build-up.

On the other hand, Suresh Singh can be persistent. He can keep pressure on opposition midfielders to lose possession. In the centre of the backline, in Ali's absence, Sandesh Jhingan could again be paired with Rahul Bheke.

To strengthen the defense, the coach could call up Akash Mishra on left-back and Nikhil Poojary on right-back positions. Along with their defensive prowess, both of them are capable of moving up to position themselves in the right places in the final third.

Both of them can overlap to find gaps in the opposition's midfield and defense. Mishra is also good at finding crosses from those suitable positions. This would mean that the coach would be choosing to go for a more attacking approach than defensive in their first AFC Asian Cup 2024 match.

Coach Stimac has the option to field Subhasish Bose instead of Mishra. However, Bose is a little more defensive-minded. Hence, that could leave the left flank less effective in attack during the India vs Australia match.

India will face World No. 68 Uzbekistan (January 18) and World No.92 Syria (January 23) in the AFC Asian Cup group stages later on to finish second in the group to qualify directly for the knockout stages. An alternate route is to be among the top four best third-placed teams from each of the six groups.