Euro 2020 Preview - Austria

[Dave]

Austria

Das Nationalteam have not won a game at a major finals since beating the United States 2-1 at the 1990 World Cup, with a favourable group draw surely that will change.

Road to Euro 2020
Austria were able to turn round a dismal start to their qualifying campaign to make it to this tournament. A 6-0 rout of Latvia emphasised this improvement as they ended qualification with 19 goals in 10 games.

The ten matches produced an average of 2.85 goals scored which suggests that the matches involving Austria should be an entertaining watch.

What to Expect
Austria have shown plenty of grit, determination and character to turn round their fortunes during qualifying. They'll no doubt hold a high amount of faith in an experienced back line remaining structured and organised against the likes of Holland and Ukraine in the hope they can make the most out of the chances they get.

Possible Lineup
Franco Foda is likely to favour a 4-4-1-1 formation. He recently experimented with 4-2-3-1 against Denmark and they lost 4-0.

Pavao Pervan was the favoured Goalkeeper in qualification, however Alexander Schlager played the most recent three fixtures. Given they were demolished by Denmark recently we favour Pervan to regain his place in the team. The favoured back four seems settled with Stefan Lainer, Aleksander Dragovic, Martin Hinteregger and Andreas Ulmer so we believe all four of them will start.

Andreas Ulmer playing at left back will enable David Alaba to play from midfield. Julian Baumgartlinger is likely to return to the side in the centre of midfield should he be declared fit with Xavier Schlager alongside him. Stefan Ilsanker is likely to start on the right side of midfield.

Like with the Ulmer/Alaba scenario, the addition of Stefan Ilsanker would allow Marcel Sabitzer to either player in front two or just behind the striker to make use of his effective long range shooting. Upfront Sasa Kalajdzic has put forward a good account to start ahead of Marko Arnautovic and Michel Gregoritsch with three goals in the recent three World Cup Qualifiers and we believe he will be favoured to lead the line.

Key Player
He may have been converted in to a central defender for Bayern Munich, but for his national side there is still a large amount of onus and responsibility on David Alaba to make full use of his technical ability to ensure they can remain competitive in matches. If Austria are to advance through Group C, its likely to be because of David Alaba's influence to this team.

Prediction
Austria are clear underdogs in this group and it will be a surprise to see them overcome either Ukraine or Netherlands in Group C. Maintaining a defensive structure will be crucial to any success they have in this group.

 

[Azeem]

" Grandpa footy is on tele it's  the Euros. Austria-Hungary are playing "

Grandpa: " Against who? "

[Tommy]

Hinteregger!  Quite a character. 

Lainer is also such a resolute player. Works his socks off in every game. 

[nudge]

I hoped for a good performance from Austria, but it seems the atmosphere in the team is not great, with a lot of criticism going towards Foda - both from the fans and from the players (allegedly). It's a pity, as I think the Austrians have plenty of decent players to play attractive football and win matches.