Jordan v India: What can India expect from their opponents this Saturday?

Ahead of the friendly matchup at the King Abdullah International Stadium in Amman on Saturday, we take a look at India's opponents Jordan in focus.

Recent form

In their last fixture, Jordan faced up against World Cup finalists Croatia in Rijeka. They succumbed to a 2-1 defeat which considering the strength of opposition is not a bad scoreline at all.

The hosts went into a 2-0 lead through goals from Domagoj Vida and Matej Mitrovic before Baha Faisal pulled one back for Jordan towards the end of the game. This was a strong side for Croatia despite the omissions of star names such as Modric, Perisic and the recently retired Mandzukic.

Domagoj Vida nods Croatia ahead against Jordan.

In terms of their form in this calendar year, Jordan have had a rather mixed bag in terms of results with 9 games played - 3 wins, 3 draws and 3 defeats. The standout result during this run of games would have to be an impressive 3-2 win against Denmark in Abu Dhabi this January although this was classed as a 'Non-FIFA friendly'.

There was also a comfortable 3-0 win against Cyprus which caught the eye, although this is testament largely to their solid home form especially in Amman which is the capital city.

Action from Jordan 3-0 Cyprus, one of the hosts' standout performances this year.

In terms of head-to-head comparison, this tie is actually the first meeting between the two sides. At the time of writing, Jordan are currently ranked 112th in the FIFA World Rankings whilst India occupy the 97th spot in these same rankings.

India are only 3 places off of their highest ever position since 1996, and have made great strides under Stephen Constantine. This is due to be the last game of what has been a largely productive year for the Indian national team in which they won the Intercontinental Cup and finished runners-up in the SAFF Championship.

Home comforts

The Jordan national team have a very solid home form, tasting defeat only twice in their last 10 home friendly matches, and have only lost 1 of their last 10 competitive home matches. This may be a stern test for India, who have only won 3 of their last 10 away friendlies although they recently put on a spirited display against Marcello Lippi's China during the 0-0 draw in October.

Baha Faisal is seen to be one of the main threats for Jordan, having scored in the recent international against Croatia. Faisal also plays for Al Wehdat, the champions of the Jordan League who incidentally play their home games at the venue for this friendly. Will these home comforts suit Jordan in this tie?

Jordan have a good record at the King Abdullah International Stadium in Amman.

India's task will be made more testing certainly by the absence of talismanic striker Sunil Chhetri - the record goalscorer and hero of the national side injured his ankle during the Bengaluru v Kerala Blasters game on November 5th.

Stephen Constantine has been diplomatic in his reaction to Chhetri's absence, stating that his side need to prepare for life without the veteran hitman. “I don’t think you can replace a player of his calibre. But we need someone to step into his shoes as there will come a time when he will not be around.

"As a result, we would like to identify the options right now so that he can share his experience with the younger lot,” said Constantine who will look to use this game as an experiment to find a formula that will work without his star man, so this fixture provides an opportunity for some of the other squad players to make a statement.

What are your predictions for the big game? Who would you like to see be given an opportunity by Constantine? Let us know in the comments!