Austria vs Latvia Predictions

Austria have won two and lost two of their opening four games so far, meaning they need to get their act together moving forward. The good news for the hosts is that they face off with Latvia – the current bottom side in this group. With Austria looking for victories to move into the top two in their bid for a place in the Euros this summer, they have to live up to their favourites’ tag in this clash. They sit a point shy of the top two as we approach the half-way point in the campaign, but will Austria secure a third win?

The hosts have managed to recover from a poor start by claiming back to back wins, seeing off Slovenia and North Macedonia. That’s lifted them back into contention for the Euros, but they need to finish on a high note. Returning home should boost the Austrians, who were given a tough time in their bid to make the 2018 World Cup. They finished on a high with two wins to finish off, before winning two of four Nations League games. However, can they follow that up with a victory on Friday?

Latvia have lost all four qualifiers so far, failing to score in three of their four matches.  The visitors have struggled for the last year, having failed to win any of their six matches in the Nations League. They failed against the likes of Kazakhstan and Andorra, which shows just how underprepared they are going into this clash. We expect Latvia to struggle at Austria, but will they follow up a string of low scoring games?

The visitors have under 2.5 goals in five of their six matches in the Nations League, while they come into this clash struggling going forward. Latvia have lost seven of their 10 matches in the previous qualifying campaign, while they struggled in trips to Andorra, the Faroe Islands and Hungary. We don’t see them achieving much away to Austria, but will this be a comprehensive defeat?

Austria saw only five goals in their four games in the Nations League, while their home games in qualifying have seen a goal each. That has left us backing a low scoring game here, with Austria seeing under 2.5 goals in their last five home matches. That makes us think that Austria to win and under 3.5 goals to be scored is great value. We’re also backing the hosts to wrap up a 2-0 win to keep their good form going.