Chinese Taipei vs Australia 15/10/19

15 October 2019

Australia head to Kaohsiung National Stadium to take on Chinese Taipei looking to maintain a 100 percent start to their 2020 FIFA World Cup Qualifying (WCQ) campaign.

A slow start to their WCQ journey has seen the hosts lose both of their opening matches by conceding two goals apiece and scoring one in total. As such, they have now won just one of their last seven outings over the past 12 months, friendlies included (W1, D2, L4). A 2-0 away win over Hong Kong aside, Louis Lancaster’s men have managed to find the net only once in the remaining six games in that sequence, conceding 2+ match goals three times in the process. Losers in three successive H2Hs by at least SEVEN goals, Chinese Taipei will try to score against Australia after four consecutive unsuccessful attempts (D1, L3).

The visitors have clinched a comfortable 3-0 away triumph over Kuwait in the curtain-raiser before brushing aside Nepal 5-0 at home to move top of Group B as the only side to win both of their opening WCQ matches. The Socceroos have, therefore, managed to bring a three-game winless run to a halt (D1, L2), and what’s more important, they’ve started scoring on a regular basis after drawing a blank in each of those three failures. It’s been “all or nothing” for Australia when away from home over the past 12 months (W4, L2), friendlies included. Interestingly, while both of their defeats in that period ended with the same 1-0 scoreline, each of their four triumphs has seen Graham Arnold’s side score 3+ goals and keep a clean sheet.