The early 14:00 kickoff on Thursday sees Denmark and Australia face off in Samara’s Cosmos Arena.
Denmark was on life support several times against Peru. Who knows what would’ve happened if Cueva didn’t miss that penalty kick in the first half. That’s in the past now. The Danes earned the three points and could secure a place among the last 16 with a win here. Australia is next on the schedule, another opponent that plays brave, inspired football. The Socceroos were rather unlucky in the matchup with France. One video review went against them and then an unfortunate deflection barreled off the cross bar and crossed the goal line by centimeters. Their midfield outplayed France’s for most of the game and will need to be in top form against Denmark’s technicians.
William Kvist suffered a rib injury that forced him off the pitch versus Peru. Lasse Schone replaced him then and will likely be in the starting lineup now. Nicolai Jorgensen and Yussuf Poulsen didn’t look comfortable together. They are similar forwards and appeared to be getting in each other’s way. It was somewhat surprising that they were on the pitch together in the first place, as that was rarely the case in qualification or friendlies. Poulsen scored, thus he should have the advantage if Age Hareide decides to make a change. In general, the Danish coach doesn’t have many options on the bench, so the lineup you saw in the Peru win will likely be the one you see for the rest of the tournament.
Andrew Nabbout did not take advantage of the opportunity to lead Australia’s attack, looking lost against France’s defence. As a result, Urawa’s Tomi Juric should take his turn in the starting eleven. Although it if were me making the choice, I’d give the start to Tim Cahill. Australia has an edge with its legend on the pitch. Bert van Marwijk’s players looked comfortable with the ball at their feet. Their movement on the field of play was rational and organized. Mile Jedinak and Aaron Mooy looked particularly synchronized. At times, they were the ones taking the game to France. Judging by how much trouble Denmark had with Peru, I think the team from The Land Down Under has an excellent chance of achieving what it failed to do in its previous game and actually come up with some points.
Projected lineups
Denmark: Kasper Schmeichel, Henrik Dalsgaard, Simon Kjaer, Andreas Christensen, Jens Larsen, Thomas Delaney, Lasse Schone, Christian Eriksen, Pione Sisto, Yussuf Poulsen, Nicolai Jorgensen.
Australia: Mathew Ryan, Joshua Risdon, Mark Milligan, Trent Sainsbury, Aziz Behich, Mile Jedinak, Aaron Mooy, Matthew Leckie, Tom Rogic, Robbie Kruse, Tomi Juric.
Prediction
Denmark 1-2 Australia
