It is a battle for supremacy in Group F of the European Championship qualifiers as Austria host Belgium in a top of the table clash. Both teams have been almost lockstep throughout the company and with little to separate them at the moment, could be set to cancel each other out.
It has been a solid qualifying campaign for Austria, who are still unbeaten after five matches and remain well on course to secure a place in next year’s tournament. They have claimed four wins and a draw and are only behind the Belgians on goal difference.
Austria are coming off a 3-1 victory over Sweden in their previous qualifying fixture. A second half blitz saw them race to a three goal lead after the restart thanks to a brace from Marco Arnautovic and a Michael Gregoritsch effort before the Swedes pulled one back.
As impressive as Austria have been in these qualifiers, they tend to suffer odd lapses of concentration at the back as evidenced by the clash in Sweden. Ralf Rangnick’s men have kept just one clean sheet in their five qualifying matches so far.
Belgium were rampant in their last qualifying fixture as they ran out 5-0 winners over Estonia. Romelu Lukaku netted a second half brace while Jan Vertonghen, Leandro Trossard and Charles De Ketelaere were also on target.
Like their hosts, the Belgians are yet to taste defeat in the qualifiers having claimed four wins and a draw from five matches. Results like the one against Estonia mean Domenico Tedesco’s men are top of Group F due to a superior goal difference.
While Belgium have impressed going forward, another reason for their superior goal difference is their solid defence. They have conceded just once in the qualifiers, although that goal came in the reverse fixture with Austria, who led for long periods in that encounter.
How the bookies view it
Belgium have a slight edge among the bookies and are priced at 6/4 by William Hill to claim the win. A victory for Austria is valued at 41/20 by Unibet while 10bet is offering odds of 23/10 for a draw.
Head to head
There have been five previous meetings between both teams with Belgium winning once while the other four matches have ended in draws. Both teams played out a 1-1 scoreline in the reverse fixture back in June with Romelu Lukaku getting the equaliser for the Belgians after Michael Gregoritsch had put Austria in front.
Players to watch
Michael Gregoritsch has impressed for Austria in recent times with five goals in his last six matches across all competitions. The attacker could be worth keeping an eye on to score anytime at 11/5 with bet365.
Romelu Lukaku comes into this international break in good form having scored four goals in his last three matches for Roma. The striker has also been on target nine times in his last six matches across all competitions for Belgium and is priced at 13/8 by bet365 to maintain his scoring run.
Anything else catch the eye?
Austria and Belgium have plenty of attacking quality and both teams could be backed to score at 4/5 with bet365. The Austrians saw over 3.5 goals in their last fixture and a repeat is priced at 13/5 with Paddy Power while Bet365 is offering odds of 21/20 for over 2.5 goals.
All the goals came after the break in Austria’s last qualifying fixture and Friday’s clash could be set to follow a similar pattern at 11/10 with Paddy Power.
This Euro 2024 match between Austria and Belgium will be played on Oct 13, 2023 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best Austria vs Belgium prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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