The Matildas’ 2023 Women’s World Cup campaign got off to a winning start last week but it’s been drama-filled around that with Mary Fowler and Aivi Luik joining superstar Sam Kerr on the sidelines for Thursday’s second group game against Nigeria.

In this day and age, you can never quite trust anything on social media anymore, so when news of Kerr’s absence for the Republic of Ireland clash dropped it felt like a really, really bad joke. It wasn’t.

Despite the hard-fought win, the Sam Kerr saga has rolled on given the uncertainty about her availability later in the tournament given little information has been made public about the actual injury.

Coach Tony Gustavsson and his team have been given the benefit of the doubt on that front, but that situation has tested the nerves, so when news dropped on Wednesday that Fowler and Luik were also unavailable for Thursday, there was another momentous gasp of disbelief. ‘Ah cmon, give us a break’, we were all thinking.

📰 SQUAD UPDATE: Mary Fowler and Aivi Luik will be unavailable for Thursday night’s clash with Nigeria with both players having been ruled out after sustaining mild concussions during training. #Matildas #FIFAWWC #TilitsDone

— CommBank Matildas (@TheMatildas) July 26, 2023

Fortunately, we’ve got three points while Group B rivals Nigeria and Canada have only got one, so a lot is going right, but we’re all on edge. Here’s our three burning questions ahead of Thursday’s game, where we will clinch qualification into the last 16 with victory.

Where will the goals come from?

Sam Kerr’s absence was obviously felt in last week’s narrow escape against the Republic of Ireland, but what was particularly concerning was the lack of final-third product, generating only two shots on target, one coming from the fortunate penalty, the other a speculative long-range Katrina Gorry effort. Kerr’s game needs service and even she would’ve struggled last Thursday.

The Matildas managed 13 shots for the game but failed to create anything genuinely threatening in open play. Perhaps it was nerves, the opposition’s approach or the occasion, but truth be told the performance against the Irish lacked cohesion or system, too often reverting to lofted diagonal balls in the first half, before battling to hang on to the ball in our own half upon Ireland’s press in the second half as they chased an equalizer.

In the first half, Ireland did drop players back in numbers, particularly centrally, so width is the key if the Matildas encounter that again in order to stretch them, needing to utilize flankers Cortnee Vine – who had some bright moments – and Hayley Raso more, while full-back Ellie Carpenter and Steph Catley need to overload more.

Alternately, Alex Chidiac is a crafty midfielder who could add some spark in tight spaces too. In saying that, a lot will fall upon Caitlin Foord’s shoulders, if she is to be played lone up front, which isn’t really her role at Arsenal where she’s usually the wide player in an attacking trio.

Set pieces have been a reliable avenue to goal during this Women’s World Cup and two of Australia’s best chances against Ireland came from headers from corners, albeit both were off target. Thus the territory game, winning corners and drawing free-kicks will be important, hence someone like Chidiac worth consideration to start, along with Clare Polkinghorne given her aerial threat.

Matchday eve in Brissy! 👊

🇦🇺 v 🇳🇬 – 27.7.23 (8pm AEST)
🏟️ Brisbane Stadium#Matildas #FIFAWWC #TilitsDone pic.twitter.com/sMYIPdHfUS

— CommBank Matildas (@TheMatildas) July 26, 2023

How do we replace Mary Fowler?

The latest injury story leaving us in disbelief dropped on Wednesday night, with the revelation that 20-year-old forward Mary Fowler along with back-up centre-back Aivi Luik would be unavailable for the Nigeria game due to concussion from two separate training incidents on Tuesday.

That’s all hard to believe – particularly given forwards Kerr and Kyah Simon are already unavailable – but putting that aside is the question of how Gustavsson replaces Fowler, who started in behind Foord in attack against the Irish and netted the winner off the bench in the warm-up game against France?

It would be a major surprise if Gustavsson changed the formation, so it looms as a like-for-like replacement or a bit of a midfield reshuffle. As I’ve eluded to above, 24-year-old Chidiac needs to be considered as a like-for-like option given her craft.

Tameka Yallop could fill the void and has declared herself available after a thigh injury, although may be restricted to a sub role. Emily van Egmond is the other major option and she is vastly more experienced and proven than Chidiac at this level, but not as aggressive on the ball, which that role arguably needs. Then again, Gustavsson may start conservative with van Egmond and switch to Chidiac to bring urgency and creativity against a tiring defence.

Is the pressure going to be a factor again?

Matildas stand-in skipper Catley admitted on Wednesday that this World Cup is the most pressure she’s felt in her entire career, although she showed nerves of steel to nail her penalty. But there’s no doubt, nerves played a part in the opener in front of 75,000 fans, with the team slow to adjust tactically when the Irish started pressing.

Decision making on the ball lacked bravery at times and that happens when you’re too afraid to make mistakes. Hopefully that first game experience has taught the team that lesson. Hopefully the benefit of a 1-0 win has granted the team some licence to relax too. It’s probably been handy to have a week between games, with the tournament well and truly underway now, so the team can settle into some flow.

But with Kerr, Simon and Fowler all missing, the mainstream story around the Matildas is the lack of firepower so if a goal isn’t forthcoming in the first half, you sense there will be a tense atmosphere within Lang Park, which has a capacity of 52,500.

Co-hosts New Zealand were already earlier this week shocked by minnows Philippines, which will have Australia on edge against 11-time African champions Nigeria, who boast Barcelona star Asisat Oshoala up front.

The prep for Nigeria continues 📈#Matildas #FIFAWWC #TilitsDone pic.twitter.com/Az7WGxtlOw

— CommBank Matildas (@TheMatildas) July 25, 2023

When will Kerr be available?

That’s the perennial question and like you, I’m none the wiser. The fact Kerr is yet to join in training doesn’t bode well, nor does the fact that Football Australia hasn’t provided any details on the injury.

There’s an element of competitive advantage when revealing info during tournament play, but not disclosing anything specific at all on the injury is unusual. The furore and confusion when Kyra Cooney-Cross said Kerr “tore her calf”, only for a Matildas spokesperson to clarify she’d misspoken, underlines this point. We get why they’re keeping it quiet, but I suspect if she was on track to play in the third game, they’d be more forthcoming on it all.

In saying that, if we get three points against Nigeria, we’re qualified for the last 16 and depending on Canada’s result on Wednesday night against Ireland in Perth, we could even have clinched top spot, which may enable Kerr to sit out the final group game with no repercussions, given it’d be a dead rubber for us.

The top two in Group B are due to play their Round of 16 games on Monday August 7, exactly 19 days after Kerr suffered the undisclosed calf injury in training on the eve of the Irish game, so whether that’s enough time to recover remains to be seen.

👍 #Matildas #FIFAWWC #TilitsDone pic.twitter.com/AjRnsCHgmE

— CommBank Matildas (@TheMatildas) July 26, 2023