Can Austria redeem themselves?
In Austria Group F, the fixed ticket for the upcoming World Cup was already awarded in the October double. The red-white-red Foda eleven will end the qualification with two home matches, which, however, only serve to ideally tank up on self-confidence. The first match on Friday evening will be Austria against Israel.
Self-confidence is what the ÖFB eleven needs with a view to the play-offs next spring. Thanks to the good results in the UEFA Nations League, Austria will still be able to dream of World Cup participation via this route. The current qualifying campaign has been a big disappointment so far and in all likelihood Austria will finish the group in fourth place. The clear favourite role of Austria against Israel according to current odds is justifiable on paper, but in view of recent performances by no means.
Austria will not play at the Ernst Happel Oval on Friday evening, but will play their penultimate international match of 2021 at the Wörthersee Stadium in Klagenfurt. This will be a reunion with long-time sporting director Willi Ruttensteiner, who now works as Israel’s team manager.
Austria – Statistics & current form
At the European Championships, the Austrian team gave eventual European champions Italy a run for their money and were narrowly beaten. An outstanding performance, but since then it has not been possible to even begin to confirm it. Any euphoria has long since vanished and the team disgraced itself to the bone on several occasions.
Foda is down for the count
Franco Foda has never really been popular with the fans, despite very good results at times. The German coach’s style of play does not sweep the supporters off their feet. A destructive style of play coupled with disappointments has resulted in many fans wishing for a new coach.
At least in the November double, Foda is still trusted, whether this will still be the case in the playoffs in February is highly questionable. Austria, as one of the two best Nations League teams, will almost certainly get this additional chance.
It will probably take two convincing victories to convince the new ÖFB president Gerhard Milletich to stick with Foda.
Offensive style of play is needed
Neo-President Milletich has a clear expectation of his (still) coach and let it be known that he likes an aggressive and offensive approach. A philosophy that can be implemented perfectly with the available player material. But Foda does not normally stand for this kind of football.
With the debutants Nicolas Seiwald and Junior Adamu (from Red Bull Salzburg), Foda has now called up two more players from the RB school who have internalised this concept.
Despite some absentees (Laimer, Schlager, Kalajdzic, Lainer, Baumgartlinger), the Austrian squad is clearly stronger. However, there have been three defeats in the last four games, the exception being the victory in the Faroe Islands. Therefore, betting on Austria against Iceland is by no means as clear-cut as the betting odds suggest.
Predicted line-up of Austria:
Bachmann – Alaba, Hinteregger, Dragovic, Trimmel – Grillitsch, Ilsanker – Baumgartner, Sabitzer, Onisiwo – Arnautovic
Last matches played by Austria:
World Cup Qualification UEFA 1st Round Grp. F
10/12 2021 – Denmark 1 – 0 Austria
10/09 2021 – Faroe Islands 0 – 2 Austria
09/07 2021 – Austria 0 – 1 Scotland
09/04 2021 – Israel 5 – 2 Austria
09/01 2021 – Moldova 0 – 2 Austria
Israel – Statistics & current form
Ouch – a goal in minute 94 from Scott McTominay gave Scotland a fortunate 3-2 win over Israel in their first October international. For the Israelis, the defeat was a major setback in the battle for second place in the table.
Doomed to win
For Israel, an away win in Austria is now an absolute must if they are to keep their mini-chance of second place alive. The team of Austrian coach Willi Ruttensteiner is four points behind Scotland and therefore needs help. First, however, they have to fulfil their own obligations, and should they succeed, highly lucrative betting odds await them. The best bookmakers are currently offering odds of over 5.00 for a win between Austria and Israel.
But not even the head coach, who celebrates his 59th birthday on match day, expects that. The World Cup qualification has already been written off in Israel and Willi Ruttensteiner would call a point win or even a duel on equal terms a “tremendous success”.
Israel also showed understatement in the first leg, in which the team repeatedly created danger with its quick-as-an-arrow switching game. Especially the offensive with Solomon, Dabbur and old star Zahavi is considered the showpiece of the Israeli game. That’s why it’s a good idea to bet on over 2.5 between Austria and Israel.
Predicted line-up of Israel:
Marciano – Menahem, Bitton, Abu Abaid, Abu Hanna, Dasa – Natcho, Peretz – Solomon – Dabbur, Zahavi
Last matches played by Israel:
World Cup Qualification UEFA 1st Round Grp. F
10/12 2021 – Israel 2 – 1 Moldova
10/09 2021 – Scotland 3 – 2 Israel
09/07 2021 – Denmark 5 – 0 Israel
09/04 2021 – Israel 5 – 2 Austria
09/01 2021 – Faroe Islands 0 – 4 Israel
Austria – Israel Direct comparison / H2H balance
In the qualifiers for the last European Football Championship, Austria disgraced themselves in Israel, conceding a 4-2 defeat after a disappointing performance. Whoever thought that this revelation was a one-off was proved wrong in the first leg of the current qualifier. Austria once again slid into a debacle and deservedly lost 5:2. Eren Zahavi, in particular, is an Austria specialist, having scored six times in three games against the Austrian side. Definitely a value tip for Austria against Israel is the prediction on a Zahavi goal.
Austria – Israel betting tips
“If everything goes normally, Austria will win,” were the words of Israeli head coach Willi Ruttensteiner at the last press conference. Understatement or realism? The fact is that the basic quality of the home side is much higher and the home advantage certainly plays into the hands of the Foda eleven. However, Austria has been in poor form since the European Championship, so we do not recommend betting on a home win in Austria’s penultimate international match of 2021 against Israel. The risk of the next disappointment is far too great.
Whether Franco Foda completely throws his own principles overboard and finally practices offensive football is not necessarily to be expected. The guests from the Middle East are by no means lacking motivation, after all, the World Cup dream is alive and well, they are playing against the home country of their head coach, who is also celebrating his birthday on match day. With Eren Zahavi, Israel also has an absolute Austrian terror in its own ranks. A point win is definitely to be expected from the guests, the prediction on the double chance X2 at attractive betting odds between Austria and Israel seems lucrative.
