On January 12, 2024, the Qatar Asian Cup will open, and the day after that, the national football team will usher in the first match of the group stage against Tajikistan, ranked 20th in Asia. Next, we will conduct a review of the 11 players who are likely to play in the national football team. Despite the recent unknown form, Wu Lei, the core of the team, is still indispensable on the offensive end. In addition to Wu Lei, the other two offensive players, center forward Zhang Yuning, are more likely to start, and after a period of training and warm-up games, his form should be gradually recovering.
As for the other wing-forward, if Wei Shihao is suspended, then Lin Liangming is likely to replace him, but if Wei Shihao is not suspended, he will still start. As for the line-up at the back, it will depend on what formation Jankovic intends to use. If the previous back five formation is adhered to, the three central defenders will be Jiang Guangtai, Zhang Linpeng and Zhu Chenjie, and the two wing-backs will be Liu Yang and Liu Binbin. Despite the five-back formation, Jankovic asked for two wing-backs to attack, meaning there were only three centre-backs at the back when defending, so it might be safer to use a back four.
In the midfield position, naturalized player Li Ke was not selected for the squad, and the new Xu Xin's form and ability are limited, so Jankovic can only choose between Wu Xi, Wang Shangyuan and Wang Qiuming. If the double back is used, Wu Xi and Wang Shangyuan are more likely to start. As for the attacking midfielders Dai Weijun, Gao Tianyi and Xie Pengfei, they are likely to come on as substitutes due to the need to ensure midfield defense. Finally, the goalkeeper position, in the previous warm-up games, Jankovic successively let Wang Dalei and Liu Dianzuo start, but the effect was not ideal, so Yan Junling is likely to continue to serve as the starting goalkeeper in official games.
Therefore, the starting lineup against Tajikistan is expected to be: Yan Junling, Zhang Linpeng, Jiang Guangtai, Zhu Chenjie, Liu Yang, Liu Binbin, Wu Xi, Wang Shangyuan, Wu Lei, Wei Shihao (Lin Liangming), Zhang Yuning.