Croatia can seal a place in the finals of the UEFA Nations League when they travel to Austria in a Group A1 fixture on Sunday. The Croats will be seeking revenge against the Austrians, who have struggled since that victory in the opening fixture.
It has been all downhill for Austria since that 3-0 victory over Croatia in their opening fixture in the UEFA Nations League. They are winless in their last four matches in the competition, suffering three defeats in that run and are rooted to the bottom of the group.
The Austrians have shown glimpses of adapting to Ralf Rangnick’s style of play, although results have not been positive. They head into Sunday’s clash off the back of a 2-0 defeat in France in their previous UNL fixture.
Austria are no longer in contention for promotion and must now seek to avoid relegation into the second tier by winning on Sunday and hope for a favour from Denmark. However, the problem is that they have struggled at home lately with no wins in their last three matches in front of their fans.
That defeat to Austria in the opening fixture turned out to be a wake-up call for Croatia as they have not looked back ever since. They are currently on a four-match unbeaten run in the UNL, winning the last three.
Croatia climbed to the top of the standings after claiming a 2-1 victory over Denmark in their previous fixture thanks to goals from Borna Sosa and Lovro Majer. That result put Zlatko Dalic’s men on the cusp of the finals and can book their place with a win on Sunday.
One positive for Croatia heading into Sunday’s clash is that their away form has been impeccable in recent times. They have won five straight matches across all competitions on the road, including back-to-back 1-0 victories over France and Denmark in their last two away fixtures in the UNL.
How the bookies view it
Croatia have the slight edge among the bookies and are priced at 13/8 by SBK to claim the win. A victory for Austria is valued at 39/20 by Unibet while a draw is set at 23/10 by Betfred.
Head to head
Austria’s 3-0 victory in the reverse fixture was their first win over Croatia in six matches. The Croats have won the other five meetings, keeping four clean sheets in that run.
Players to watch
Marco Arnautovic is the leading scorer in Serie A with six goals for Bologna this season and the Austrians will be hoping he brings his good form to the national team. The forward was on target in the reverse fixture and is priced at 12/5 by bet365 to find the net on Sunday.
Andrej Kramaric failed to get on the score sheet in the win over Denmark last time out but remains a major attacking threat for Croatia. The forward is priced at 12/5 by bet365 to get on the score sheet on Sunday.
Anything else catch the eye?
Austria and Croatia have plenty of attacking quality and both teams could be backed to score at 17/20 by Coral. Over 2.5 goals can also be considered at 23/20 with Coral, while bet365 is offering odds of 3/1 for over 3.5 goals.
Croatia have opened the scoring in their last three matches and could be backed to score first on Sunday at evens with Paddy Power.
This UEFA Nations League match between Austria and Croatia will be played on Sep 25, 2022 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best Austria vs Croatia prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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