The Socceroos and Uzbekistan will clash on 22 January at 1am AEDT at the Khalifa bin Zayed Stadium for a chance to meet either the United Arab Emirates or Kyrgyzstan in the quarter-final. Australia Australia had a very rocky start to the tournament with a 1-0 loss to Jordan, who have ended up at the top of Group B. The Roos then clawed back some pride with a clinical 3-0 win over Palestine and a 3-2 win over Syria thanks to a 90th-minute winner from Tom Rogic. They finished second in the group with six points. Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Reddit Email Share Key player: Chris Ikonomidis Ikonomidis has been outstanding for Australia with four assists and one goal, and there’s been only one goal for the whole tournament he’s not been involved in. He’s been put at striker and attacking midfield for the Glory but has played on the wing for Australia. If he is taken out of the game by the fullback from Uzbekistan, we are in deep trouble. Ikonomidis is our best crosser and linker, and by taking him out they would have to make Awer Mabil take on that job when Mabil is more of the ‘faster goalscorer’-type player. Where they will win With through balls and getting into space. Four of Australia’s six goals have came from through balls. In the 4-2-3-1 formation you’ve got three attacking midfielders, of which two are out wide, meaning one of the two wide midfielders can came in while one can stay put. Awer Mabil and Chris Ikonomidis are great at getting into space, while Tom Rogic and Ikonomidis are great at playing through balls. If we can continue that, we will be unstoppable. Advertisement Advertisement Where they will lose Underestimation. The Socceroos have a long history of underestimating teams. Of our two games against Thailand in the World Cup qualifiers, one was a draw and another was a 2-1 win. There was the opening game of the 2015 Asian Cup in which we conceded first to Oman but then won 4-1. But the underestimation that may haunt us forever is the 1-0 loss to Jordan in the opening match of this Asian Cup. We don’t want this to happen again. Predicted line-up Formation: 4-2-3-1 GK: Matthew Ryan LB: Aziz Behich CB: Trent Sainsbury CB: Milos Degenek RB: Rhyan Grant CDM: Mark Milligan CDM: Jackson Irvine LM: Chris Ikonomidis CAM: Tom Rogic RM: Awer Mabil ST: Jamie Maclaren The game against Palestine was the best for Australia, so why change it from there? Trent Sainsbury will return from suspension, so he will come in for Massimo Luongo, and Mark Milligan will go back into CDM. I don’t think the formation should change at all. Uzbekistan Uzbekistan started the tournament with a 2-1 win over Oman and then thrashed Turkmenistan 4-0. They finished the group stage with a 2-1 loss to Japan. Like the Socceroos, they finished second in their group (Group F) on six points. Key player: Odil Ahmedov I don’t know a lot about Uzbekistan, but I know Odil Ahmedov. He is a midfielder who has scored 18 goals in 92 games for his country and is known for his tough tackling and long shots, which is a great asset to any team. Where they will win: Speed Speed, I am speed. In their game against Turkmenistan all of their four goals came from players making runs that probably wouldn’t have been goals if the players weren’t fast enough. They will need to be on the jets again if they want to win this game. Advertisement Advertisement Where they will lose: On paper Let’s be realistic: Australia is just way better on paper. I have to basically start from scratch learning about this team. Not a single player from Uzbekistan plays in any of the top five European leagues or the leagues below those five leagues. But that could work in their favour as the Socceroos wouldn’t know much about them either. It probably won’t, though. Sports opinion delivered daily Predicted line-up GK: Ignatiy Nesterov LB: Egor Krimets CB: Farrux Sayfiyev CB: Davronbek Khashimov RB: Islom Tukhtakhujaev CDM: Dostonbek Khamdamov CDM: Ikram Alibaev LM: Sidikov Javokhir CAM: Otabek Shukurov RM: Fozil Musaev ST: Eldor Shomurodov I always thought that playing the same formation as your opponent would favour the team with the better players, but it didn’t seem like that in the game against Japan. I see them starting the same squad as the last game. Advertisement Advertisement Prediction: 2-0 Socceroos Australia has to win. There’s too much pressure on the team – and on Graham Arnold. Go Socceroos!<doc-sep>Al Ain: Socceroos coach Graham Arnold has implored his players to be more "ruthless" in front of goal and put their opponents away when they have the chance at the Asian Cup. Australia's campaign continues on Tuesday (1am AEDT) when they meet Uzbekistan in their round of 16 clash at the Khalifa bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain. On paper and on form, the defending champions should win. Sharpen up: Graham Arnold wants the Socceroos to start putting teams away when they have the chance. Credit:AP Uzbekistan have never scored a goal against the Socceroos in three previous meetings, but the White Wolves will be no pushovers and represent a step up in class compared to the teams Australia faced during the group stage. Arnold is seeking further improvement from his team and believes it can come in attack, pointing to last week's spirited 3-2 win over Syria as an example.<doc-sep>
Former Socceroo Ned Zelic believes Uzbekistan have the weaponry to cause the Socceroos some problems in their last 16 match-up at the Asian Cup. Graham Arnold’s side take on the Uzbeks, helmed by highly rated Argentine Hector Cuper, on Tuesday morning in the do-or-die clash. “I still think we’ll do well,” Zelic said on Sunday Shootout. Australia's head coach Graham Arnold Source: AP “Certainly there are challenges there and the Uzbekis they play a real European style game. The fact that they’ve got Cuper in there as well, a tactical genius really as a coach does give them that extra mix of causing us a few problems. Get every match of the AFC Asian Cup LIVE only on FOX SPORTS. Sign Up Now! “Clearly there are a few players in there, [Odil] Akhmedov at No.6 who really does break up a lot of the play but has the ability as well to really find his teammates in good areas going forward. Up front as well, [Eldor] Shomurodov who’s been scoring goals is going to be a challenge for our central defenders. If we can shut down these influential players then certainly it is a positive start. When I see, certainly the game against Japan they had five players out and so they rested a lot of their good players, but in those previous games they were very impressive. “When they smashed Turmkenistan, when I see one of their players getting on the ball and playing a pass with the outside of the foot to Shamurodov then that shows you automatically there’s real technical ability in this side. “So itll be up to us to put in a balanced performance to shut them down, but what we want to play as well. You want to get Ikonomidis, Mabil on the ball. We saw against Japan, as soon as you get a few of those skilful speedy players on the ball you can cause them a lot of problems.” Watch the Socceroos take on Uzbekistan live on Fox Sports 505 from 12:30am on Tuesday morning.