A passage to the final round of Asia qualifiers of the 2018 World Cup is up for grabs when Australia host Jordan Tuesday. Australia will go through to the next round with a draw, while Jordan need a win in Sydney to guarantee their place.
The Socceroos will be the favourites going into this match, but the home team will also be wary of their opponents, who beat them 2-0 in the reverse fixture in Jordan in October last year.
Jordan also have another trump card in the shape of Harry Redknapp, who has been roped in as the manager for their last two World Cup qualifiers in this round. Redknapp led Jordan to an 8-0 thrashing of Bangladesh in his first match in charge, but the main reason behind the appointment was this match in Sydney against Australia.
Jordan currently have 16 points in World Cup qualification to Australia's 18. So, a draw will do for the Socceroos to qualify for the next round. Even if Jordan fail to get the desired result, they could still go through as one of the four second-placed qualifiers. But Jordan, or Australia, will not want to take that risk.
Ange Postecoglou, the Socceroos manager, has a few selection headaches ahead of this match. Tim Cahill sat out the 7-0 thrashing of Tajikistan last week, and might come in for Apostolos Giannou, who made his debut in the last match. Tom Rogic of Celtic is expected to start, but skipper Mile Jedinak is a big injury doubt and likely to miss out.
"I'm getting to the point where I'm going, 'Well, you know what, do I really need a settled lineup? I know people want that and get comfort in that, but it's worked well for us to keep everyone on edge so far," Postecoglou was quoted as saying by the Sydney Morning Herald when asked about the starting lineup for the match against Jordan.
"Going into this camp we've left some pretty good players out of the actual squad, who were a big part of what's happened in the last two years. So if we do well in these two games, all of a sudden there's pressure within and pressure outside.
"I like that aspect of it. So, whilst you're doing something to build some sort of core foundation, there's part of me that wants to keep that uncertainty around it as well."
Redknapp will hope to pull off an upset, but the former Tottenham manager knows it will be far from easy against a quality Australia side. "They are a threat, the fullbacks get forward, the boy [Brad] Smith I think is going to be a big player for Liverpool in the future, they've got a bit of pace in their team, they're a dangerous team, a good team, there's no doubt about that at all," Redknapp was quoted by Reuters.
Where to Watch Live
Australia vs Jordan is scheduled for an 8 p.m. local time (2.30 p.m. IST, 10 a.m. BST) start. There will be no Live coverage of the match in India.
Viewers in Australia can watch the World Cup qualifier live on Fox Sports 4 and SBS 1, while the online live streaming option is on Foxtel.
LeTV will broadcast the match live in China and Hong Kong.
Audience in the Middle East and North Africa can watch Australia vs Jordan live on TV on Bein Sports Arabia. The match can also be live streamed on Bein Sports Connect.
