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Steffen Schmidt - March 21, 2023
Austria vs Azerbaijan
EURO Qualification
Date: 24 March 2023, Friday
Kick-off at 19:45 UK / 20:45 CET
Venue: Raiffeisen Arena (Linz).
Austria will begin the new qualifying campaign on Friday evening when they host Azerbaijan at Raiffeisen Arena in Linz.
The Austrians forgot a dismal Nations League campaign after a big scalp in a 2-0 victory over Italy in a friendly played in November last year.
Ralf Rangnick’s men are now set to get off to a strong start to the new qualifying run with back-to-back fixtures against Azerbaijan and Estonia on home soil.
The Austrians had a disappointing campaign in the World Cup qualifications, ending the run in the playoffs semifinal with a wobbly performance in a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Wales.
It will be very interesting to see whether Rangnick’s men can avoid a slip-up in the opening two games of the new campaign, especially in this clash against Azerbaijan.
The visitors will go into this in the highest of spirits after a streak of five straight wins across competitions last year.
Giovanni De Biasi’s men have bagged at least two goals in each of these five wins along the way. The run includes an impressive display in the 1-3 road victory in a friendly against North Macedonia in November last year.
Unfortunately for their fans, such a streak was not enough for the first place in the Nations League group as Azerbaijan had to settle for the second place in the League C Group 3 behind Kazakhstan.
Looking at Azerbaijan’s impressive attacking form in the second half of last year, we would not be surprised to see them on target here against Austria.
The gulf in quality between the two teams is still enormous and we expect the Austrians to still come on top on their soil. The Over 2.5 goals FT is a great betting option at the 1.70 odds, while the braver punters can take the 3.50 odds offered for Austria to win & Both Teams To Score bet.
