On Saturday morning, Australia and India go head-to-head in Group B of the Asian Cup as both teams look to make winning starts in what looks like a highly intriguing group.
The Socceroos will feel that they are heading into the Asian Cup with good momentum after four straight victories over New Zealand, Bangladesh, Palestine and Bahrain.
📋 Bound for Qatar! ✈️🇶🇦Graham Arnold has named his 26-player squad for our #AsianCup2023 campaign! 💪📰 Read more: https://t.co/n50HYXgmCc#Socceroos pic.twitter.com/ZMc52e7Fgp— Subway Socceroos (@Socceroos) December 21, 2023
📋 Bound for Qatar! ✈️🇶🇦Graham Arnold has named his 26-player squad for our #AsianCup2023 campaign! 💪📰 Read more: https://t.co/n50HYXgmCc#Socceroos pic.twitter.com/ZMc52e7Fgp
The good run was mainly due to excellent defensive displays, as they didn’t concede a goal in the four-game winning run. However, at the other end of the pitch, Graham Arnold’s team also scored at least two goals in three of the four victories.
Australia has an inconsistent recent record in the Asian Cup. They exited the competition at the quarter-finals stage in 2019 after suffering a 1-0 defeat against UAE. The loss ended a three-game unbeaten run in the competition for the Socceroos.
Unlike their opponents, Igor Stimac’s team heads into this encounter in poor form, as they have won just one of their previous eight games over 90 minutes. Last time out, they suffered a 3-0 home defeat against competition hosts Qatar in World Cup qualifying.
The win was something of a rare high-scoring game for India, as six of their previous nine games in all competitions have produced under 2.5 goals.
India have been productive in their last 5 matches, scoring 2+ goals in 4 of them and the only occasion where they scored just 1 goal and still won was against Kuwait.
Forebet predicts that India will upset the odds and formbook by recording a victory in a high-scoring encounter.