Adam Taggart will get the chance to put his rich vein of goalscoring form to the test tonight (Friday) against the might of Italian champions Juventus.
The Caltex Socceroos striker is part of the K-League All Stars team which will take on the Serie A giants at the Seoul Olympic Stadium this evening, kicking off at 9pm (AEST).
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Taggart is currently the leading scorer in the K-League, netting 12 times in just 19 appearances to sit three clear of FC Seoul’s Aleksandar Pesic and Jeonbuk’s Kim Shin-wook (both nine).
The 26-year-old’s run of career-best form has included eight goals in his last eight appearances.
But this promises to be a step-up for the former Brisbane Roar star, facing the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini and Dutch starlet Matthijs De Ligt.
All Aussie clash in Denmark
Awer Mabil’s FC Midtjylland will put their perfect record in the Danish Superliga to the test this weekend against AGF’s trio of Australians.
Mabil’s side have won both of their opening two matches of the new season and will be confident of making it three-from-three against an AGF side still searching for their first win of the campaign.
Mustafa Amini is again likely to start for the Aarhus-based club, that also has fellow Aussies Alex Gersbach and Zach Duncan in their squad.
The match will be played at AGF’s Ceres Park, kicking off at 12am on Monday morning (AEST).
Vukovic’s Genk begin their title defence
Caltex Socceroos gloveman Danny Vukovic will be hoping for a winning start when the new Belgium First Division A season begins this weekend.
Vukovic’s Genk – who won the league title for the first time in eight years in 2018/19 – are at home against Kortrijk on Saturday morning, kicking off at 4.30am (AEST).
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It’s the start of a huge season for the club who will also be involved in UEFA Champions League football for the first time.
The Aussie shot-stopper is a fan-favourite at the Cristal Arena, and kept an impressive 14 clean sheets in 37 league appearances last campaign.
The rest of our Aussies Abroad
Trent Sainsbury could get his hands on the Johan Cruyff shield on Sunday morning as his PSV battle it out with Ajax in the Dutch Super Cup (kick-off at 2am AEST).
This is the fourth time in five years PSV are involved in the match, which is traditional season-opening fixture a week ahead of the start of the Eredivisie.
After watching from the bench in PSV's midweek first-leg Champions League qualifying win over FC Basel, the Caltex Socceroos defender may play some part for Mark van Bommel’s men, especially with the second leg in Switzerland to play next week.
PSV are looking to lay an early marker down by claiming the season’s first piece of silverware against last season’s champions.
Fellow Aussie defender could make his first appearance for Red Star Belgrade since making his switch back to the club from Saudi Pro League outfit Al Hilal.
Red Star are at home in the second match of the Serbian Super Liga season, taking on Radnicki Nis at 4am on Sunday (AEST).
It’s the first game of the new campaign in Austria, with James Jeggo set to be involved for his club, Austria Wien.
The Vienna-based club are on the road in round 1, travelling to Swarovski Tirol at 1am on Sunday (AEST).
In the MLS, Brad Smith and Seattle Sounders will look to consolidate their playoff credentials when they travel to Houston Dynamos on Monday (10am kick-off AEST).
The Sounders are coming off a 2-1 loss to Portland but remain in third spot in the Western Conference, just two points behind Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s LA Galaxy.
