Australian national team coach Holger Osieck is likely to deploy a relatively inexperienced line-up for tonight's friendly with UAE. The Socceroos take on the United Arab Emirates in Al Ain at 1:30am AEDT on Thursday in a warm-up to the Asian Cup which kicks off in Qatar on Friday.

Reports suggest that Osieck will rest the likes of Tim Cahill, Harry Kewell, Brett Emerton and Scott McDonald and instead will give a run to Melbourne Victory's Robbie Kruse along with Nathan Burns and perhaps even teenager Tommy Oar.

The friendly will be Australia's only match before their opening Asian Cup group stage match against India on Monday, 10 January (Tuesday morning AEDT).

The Socceroos will also meet South Korea and Bahrain in Group C of the competition.