Australia and Denmark face off Wednesday in a World Cup Group D soccer showdown at Al Janoub Stadium.
Australia comes into this game sitting in second place in the group having picked up three points. Australia opened up the World Cup with a 4-1 defeat at the hands of France. In the last game though against Tunisia they were able to secure a 1-0 victory. Australia had 41 percent of the possession and only two shots on target, but one went in the back of the net. Nathaniel Atkinson missed the last game with an ankle injury, and it’s unclear his status for this game. Martin Boyle also suffered an ACL injury right before the World Cup and that has been a big loss for the team. In this game, Australia is going to need the offense to step up, and put pressure on the defense of Denmark.
On the other side of this matchup is Denmark, who sits in 3rd place in the group having picked up one point. Denmark opened up the World Cup with a 0-0 draw against Tunisia. In the last game against France, they were competitive, but a goal given up in the 86th minute was the difference as they lost 2-1. Thomas Delaney is dealing with a knee injury, and he has been ruled out of the rest of the World Cup. Andreas Skov Olsen and Simon Kjaer both missed the last game, but both are expected to move back into the starting lineup here in this game. Australia has scored only one goal in the World Cup, and they are going to need the offense to get going early.
Australia is going to struggle in this game. Denmark is the better team, and I think they are going to get the offense going here. Australia gave up four goals in the first game, and they are going to struggle to defend in this game. Look for Denmark to score two or three goals, and they will secure the victory.