Latvia vs Austria Predictions

It’s damage control time for the bottom side in Group G, who are aiming to avoid losing all of their matches in this group. Latvia have nine defeats from nine so far, while they meet an Austria side who are already qualified. However, the visitors need to polish their record, as the tournament draw will be seeded based on qualifying records. A win could bump them up and give them an easier draw, so it’s still an important game for the away side.

Latvia have been struggling from the off in this group, starting things with a 3-1 defeat at North Macedonia. The hosts have now lost every game scoring just twice overall, a real blow to a side who made the Euros when they were tougher to get to back in 2004. Now they are stragglers at the bottom of the pile here, leaving Austria as the cut-price favourites for a victory on Tuesday.

Austria are heading for the Euros following a major disappointment in 2016. They were the dark horses before a dismal campaign even knocked them off course in the World Cup qualifiers. They are back to their best now after some good results in this group, as they bounced back from losing their opening two to make it. Six wins in seven have put them in the finals, now Austria will want to finish with a victory.

We see little chance of them being denied here, as the hosts are in dire shape. Latvia have been at their worst at home, with five straight defeats here leaving them as massive outsiders for this clash. Latvia have lost each of those by at least two goals, with three 3-0 defeats in those five. They’ve failed to win a competitive home game since October 2017, while Austria are looking good ahead of this trip.

With Latvia in this current state, we expect Austria to finish up with a handsome victory. They are heavy favourites here for a reason, so we’re backing them with a -1 handicap in this visit to Riga. With eight of their last nine home qualifiers seeing them lose by two or more goals, we think the value here lies with Austria -1.

We are also backing Austria to come away with a solid win in our correct score pick. The visitors are averaging three goals per game against Latvia in the last five head to head meetings between the pair. The visitors are the group top scorers, while Latvia have failed to score in each of their home defeats so far. Following that run, we’re backing a 3-0 victory for Latvia this week.