Preview: Australia vs. New Zealand - prediction, team news, lineups

The Socceroos continued their preparations for the upcoming World Cup with a 1-0 victory over their neighbours in Canberra on Thursday and will now travel away looking to complete a double.

Match preview

Australia headed into Thursday's first contest with New Zealand on a high following their successful World Cup Qualifying campaign and looking to continue building momentum ahead of the tournament in Qatar, having fought through several stages to book their place.

A dominant showing in their second-round group of Asian qualifying saw Graham Arnold's men progress to another group stage, but, after struggling to keep pace with Saudi Arabia and Japan, missing out on automatic progression as a result, the Socceroos faced two playoff games, firstly seeing off United Arab Emirates with a 2-1 victory thanks to goals from Jackson Irvine and Ajdin Hrustic.

That booked them an Inter-Confederation playoff against Peru, with a place in the group stage in Qatar on the line, and after the game remained goalless throughout the 90 minutes and extra time, it would go to a penalty shootout which Arnold's men eventually prevailed in as Andrew Redmayne saved two spot kicks.

They would return to action for the first time since booking their place on Thursday at home to New Zealand, and Arnold's men managed to see out a narrow one-goal victory, as Awer Mabil's strike from distance proved to be the only difference between the two nations.

Now heading across to Eden Park for their final outing before the commencement of the tournament in November, Australia will aim to post another confidence-boosting result and complete a pair of wins over their rivals.

The All Whites will be keen to prevent that from happening, though, as they aim to bounce back from their own Inter-Confederation Playoff disappointment after cruising through Oceanian World Cup Qualifying with relative ease.

Having won their group with a perfect record, Danny Hay's side got past Tahiti and Solomon Islands in the knockout stage, with the latter being a 5-0 thrashing to prevail in their regional competition, but with no places guaranteed at the World Cup for that branch, they faced a playoff against Costa Rica.

Their opponents would go ahead inside three minutes in Qatar through Joel Campbell and defend their lead throughout, with a red card to Kosta Barbarouses in the second half further harming the All White's chances, as Hay's side eventually succumbed to a 1-0 defeat, falling agonisingly at the final hurdle in their bid to reach the global competition for the first time since 2010.

Having also been unable to bounce back to winning ways in their first friendly against Australia, New Zealand will now hope to dish out a beating to their rivals at the second time of asking on home turf and begin rebuilding confidence in the camp.

Australia competition form:

W

W

Australia form (all competitions):

D

L

L

W

W

W

New Zealand competition form:

L

D

L

New Zealand form (all competitions):

W

W

L

D

L

L

Team News

While Arnold will prioritise establishing his best team for the World Cup over wholesale rotations, he may take the chance of a second friendly to take a closer look at more squad players, with the likes of Connor Metcalfe, Riley McGree, Jamie Maclaren, Nathaniel Atkinson and Mathew Leckie all coming off the bench in the first game and hoping to get a chance from the outset on Sunday.

Maclaren and Leckie could fight to lead the line in their 4-3-3 setup, while Awer Mabil's decisive goal on Thursday should earn him another start, with Aaron Mooy also likely to keep his place in the engine room as one of the Socceroos' key men.

He may be joined by McGree and Metcalfe, while the centre-back pairing of Milos Degenek and Trent Sainsbury is less likely to be broken up given the relative youth of their partnership ahead of the beginning of the group stage.

New Zealand captain Winston Reid was left on the bench for Thursday's friendly, given the lack of competitive football he has played since leaving West Ham United last year, with Michael Boxall, Nando Pijnaker and Tim Payne preferred at the heart of Danny Hay's defence.

Elsewhere, Newcastle United striker Chris Wood is bound to continue leading the line, with his 33 international goals being the most in the All Whites' history.

He was joined by Andre de Jong last time out, but Ben Waine will have his sights set on the attacking spot alongside Wood, with Elijah Just offering further support in the final third.

Australia possible starting lineup:

Ryan; Atkinson, Degenek, Sainsbury, Behich; McGree, Mooy, Metcalfe; Mabil, Leckie, Boyle

New Zealand possible starting lineup:

Sail; Ingham, Tuiloma, Boxall, Pijnaker, Cacace; Bell, Garbett; Just; Waine, Wood

We say: Australia 2-0 New Zealand

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