Australia vs Lebanon 20/11/18

20 November 2018

A friendly meeting between Australia and Lebanon that shall take place at the ANZ Stadium in Sydney will see the hosts trying to get their second victory in six matches.

The Socceroos are not going through the best of time, considering they’ve only managed to defeat Kuwait in the past five games. Australia failed to shine at the World Cup, having suffered elimination already after the group stage, as they’ve lost two out of three opening games. After the conclusion of the final tournament, Graham Arnold took charge of the national team in favor of Bert van Marwijk. Although Arnold’s adventure at the Socceroos started off on the right foot, his players have barely managed to dodge a loss against South Korea, with Massimo Luongo scoring the 94th-minute equalizer.

On the other hand, the Cedars have featured in five international friendlies in 2018, having clinched two wins while playing out two draws and suffering one defeat in the process. After a promising start of the year that saw them beating Malaysia and Jordan, the Phoenicians have failed to secure a triumph in the next three matches. Apart from two scoreless draws with Oman and Uzbekistan, Miodrag Radulovic’s players have suffered a 1-0 loss Kuwait, as they desperately hope to return to winning ways. However, the last time Lebanon faced Australia, they’ve suffered a 3-0 loss. Moreover, despite the fact Radulovic’s team clinched three triumphs in the previous five road matches, they’ve failed to score more than one goal in each of those encounters, although they’ve kept a clean sheet four times in the process.

Provisional line-up – Australia:

Gk: Ryan Defense: Milligan – Degenek – Risdon – Behich Midfield: Luongo – Mooy – Rogic Attack: Kruse – Leckie – Boyle

Provisional line-up – Lebanon:

Gk: Khalil Defense: Ismail – Mansour – El Zein – Oumari Midfield: Ayass – Mohamad Haidar – Adnan Haidar – Jradi Attack: Maatouk – Ataya