Austria vs France

Ernst Happel Stadion is the venue as Austria and France go head-to-head in a handsomely-looking UEFA Nations League showdown.

Austria’s flying start to the new Nations League campaign already looks remote as they suffered a 2-1 home defeat to Denmark following a 3-0 thumping of Croatia in their Group A1 curtain-raiser. Interestingly, though, since exiting Euro 2020 last summer, the Austrians have not drawn any of their ten competitive matches (W5, L5). Yet, a lack of consistency has seen ‘Das Team’ alternate between winning (2) and losing (2) across their last four competitive fixtures. High scoring has been a common theme in Austria’s recent internationals. Their last five outings have featured over 2.5 goals, with four of them seeing both teams on the scoreboard, highlighting the potential for a back-and-forth affair.

In the meantime, France succumbed to a 2-1 home defeat to Denmark on Matchday 1, despite breaking the deadlock early in the second half. Unfortunately for the World Cup-winning manager Didier Deschamps, his side could only manage an underwhelming 1-1 draw away to Croatia last time out. After throwing their hopes of defending the Nations League title into doubt, ‘Les Bleus’ will turn to their comprehensive 3-1 H2H win over Austria in their most recent meeting for inspiration. What’s more, since an uneventful Euro 2020 last-16 exit to Switzerland, Deschamps’ men have gone unbeaten in all five internationals held on foreign soil (W3, D2). While both draws in that sequence yielded the identical 1-1 scoreline, all three victories saw France net 2+ goals.