Fresh off their impressive 0-0 draw against the People’s Republic of China, the Indian national team will lock horns against Jordan at the King Abdullah II International Stadium in Amman on Saturday. Although a friendly, the match will be the first-ever meeting between the two Asian countries on a football field, giving the fixture a touch of history.

With both teams scheduled to play in the AFC Asian Cup 2019 in January, the players will look to give their maximum effort to get a positive result out of the match and boost their confidence going into the showpiece event.

TEAM JORDAN

Jordan are ranked 112th in the current FIFA rankings and are yet to win a single match under new coach Vital Borkelmans, who has been in charge of the team for only three matches. However, that's only half the story. Jordan held Oman and Albania, two strong sides, to goalless draws before narrowly losing to World Cup 2018 finalists Croatia in their last friendly in October. All three results were commendable considering the quality of the opposition. Despite not registering any wins, the side has won plaudits for their displays, especially their gritty performance against Croatia. Under the stewardship of Borkelmans, Jordan are still a work in progress but have the ability to upset any team on their day. The match will surely prove to be a stern test to Stephan Constantine’s India team.

Before leaving for Jordan, Sandesh Jhingan said that the friendly could be the perfect dress rehearsal for India's matches against UAE and Bahrain in the AFC Asian Cup, given the similar physical style of play implemented by all the sides.

Jordan have a lot of injury woes going into the match but will still possess enough threat to worry the Blue Tigers. Striker Baha’ Faisal, who came off the bench to score against Croatia, will be an important cog in Jordan’s armoury alongside the versatile Yaseen Al-Bakhit.

TEAM INDIA

The Blue Tigers shrugged off their disappointing loss in the final of the Suzuki SAFF Championship in style as they held Marcello Lippi’s mighty People's Republic of China side to a goalless draw in their last outing. Stephan Constantine will be hoping for more of the same grit and valour from his boys in Amman. However, the team will have to do it without talismanic striker Sunil Chhetri, who will miss the match because of an ankle injury.

Chhetri will be a huge miss for India, considering the amount of influence he has on the team both on and off the field. But his absence will also present Constantine with an opportunity to give some game time to some of the young forwards like Manvir Singh and Sumeet Passi.

Balwant Singh, who missed the China game due to visa issues, is expected to take Chhetri's spot up front alongside Jeje Lalpekhlua. Wingers Udanta Singh and Halicharan Narzary will most likely retain their spots in the starting XI from the last match against China. The wide players will be vital to Constantine's game plan to break down the Jordan side, who prefer to play with a 3-4-1-2 formation. Jackichand Singh, who has been in fine form for FC Goa in Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2018-19 season so far, can be an interesting option off the bench.

India, ranked 97th, may be above Jordan in the current FIFA rankings but will have to be at their very best to get a positive result on Saturday.

PROBABLE LINE-UPS

Jordan: Moataz Yaseen (GK), Mohammad Al-Dumeiri, Bara Marei, Ihsan Haddad, Yaseen Al-Bakhit, Mahmoud Al-Mardi, S Alajalin, Munther Abu Amarah, Ahmed Al-Ersan, Baha' Faisal, Musa Al-Taamari

India: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (GK), Subhasish Bose, Pritam Kotal, Sandesh Jhingan, Anas Edathodika, Pronay Halder, Anirudh Thapa, Udanta Singh, Halicharan Narzary, Balwant Singh, Jeje Lalpekhlua