Austria vs Israel

Austria and Israel are set to trade tackles in an exciting World Cup qualifying showdown at the Wörthersee Stadion.

A return of three defeats from Austria’s last four World Cup qualifying fixtures (W1) means they can no longer secure a second-place finish in Group F. However, the Austrians’ hopes of reaching next year’s final tournament are still alive as they can advance to the play-offs as one of the two best-placed UEFA Nations League group winners. Based on their recent meetings with Israel, neutrals could be in for a treat here, as their last three H2Hs have featured a whopping average of 5.67 goals per game, including Austria’s 5-2 thrashing in Haifa in the reverse fixture. That said, each of Austria’s last three home internationals have seen one or both sides fail to find the back of the net, with two of them producing under 1.5 overall goals.

In the meantime, Israel’s hopes of securing their first World Cup finals appearance since 1970 are no longer in their hands, as they enter the last two qualifying fixtures trailing second-placed Scotland by four points. After failing to win any of their four historical visits to Austria (D1, L3), the ‘Chosen Team’ have to defy history to remain in contention for the coveted second place. Winner takes all has been a theme in Israel’s recent Group F matches as none of the last seven have ended as a draw (W3, L4), with 71.43% of those results (win/loss) seeing the winner on the day keep a clean sheet. Topically, none of Israel’s eight previous international travels have ended level (W4, L4), though it’s worth noting that seven of them have seen the victor score 3+ match goals.