Austria vs Poland Predictions

Despite having a more than competitive squad to choose from, Austria put in a disappointing showing in the World Cup 2018 qualifying campaign. They eventually finished 4th in the group behind Serbia, Republic of Ireland, and Wales. Thursday marks the beginning of their attempt to make amends for this poor performance, and it begins with one of the toughest matches of the lot.

Austria and Poland can easily be considered the two favourites for the top spots in Euro 2020 qualifying Group G, with the likes of Israel, Latvia, Macedonia, and Slovenia not really expected to put up much of a fight. With that in mind, this home match against their fellow contenders could prove the difference between finishing 1st and 2nd.

Fortunately for Austria, their form has improved since that ill fated World Cup qualifying campaign. They have won eight, drawn one, and lost three of their 12 matches since that qualifying period ended, and that includes impressive wins against Uruguay, Russia, and Germany. Admittedly their recent losses away to Bosnia-Herzegovina and Denmark were poor though, which means their home form could be crucial in the coming year.

Poland aren’t in great form at all though. They did manage to make it to Russia last summer, but group stage defeats to Senegal and Colombia made their World Cup campaign a short one, and things haven’t improved since then.

They have failed to win any of their six matches since, drawing with Italy, Republic of Ireland, and Portugal and losing all three of their home games. Despite having one of the world’s best strikers in Robert Lewandowski, they have netted just five goals in this period.

On Thursday they come up against an Austrian side who have kept a clean sheet in five of their last seven home games. However, the hosts’ aren’t exactly a free scoring side themselves. This has resulted in a number of low scoring affairs, with 11 of their last 17 home games seeing fewer than three goals scored.

Poland are similarly cautious when on the road, with all but one of their games since the World Cup seeing fewer than three goals. This makes backing Under 2.5 Goals look a good value option on Thursday, so we’re going for that along with a 1-1 correct score prediction.