Austria v Poland
Thursday 21st 1945hrs
Football – International – European Championship Qualification
Pick Draw
Bookmaker Marathon Bet
Odds: 59/25 (odds taken 21.55 GMT, Tuesday 20th March)
Qualification for the European Championships begins this week and two teams who participated in Euro 2016 clash in Vienna on Thursday as Austria host Poland. Both teams will be looking to get their campaigns off to a winning start.
European Championship Qualifiers Betting at Marathon Bet
Austria Preview
Austria have qualified for just two European Championships and have yet to win a game at either of their appearances. Franco Foda took over as coach in November 2017, tasked with a good showing in the UEFA Nations League following the Austrian’s missing out on playing in last summer’s World Cup, before building towards these qualifiers. Foda’s team finished second in their UNL section, three points behind Bosnia and will remain in League B for the next iteration. It’s all about looking forwards now and attempting to make it through to Euro 2020. It’s a presentable looking section they have been drawn in and face their top seeds at home in the first game, before quickly following up with a visit to Israel on Sunday. The head coach will be aware that their results against Poland will likely dictate their chances of finishing top of the group and with them opening their campaign at home it is imperative they target and get three points. Had this game been played two years ago then you would seriously fancy Austria such was their form in qualifying for the last Euros. Whilst they are not quite in that form heading into this one, Austria’s form at home is till relatively strong with only one defeat in their last 13, winning eight of them.
Key-Facts – Austria v Poland
- Austria and Poland both had disappointing UEFA Nation’s League campaigns and will be out to make a good start in their attempts to make the Euro’s
- The last time these two countries met was Euro 2018 in a game that finished 1-1
- Austria have lost only one of their last 13 home games and Poland have lost one away qualifier in the last six years
Poland Preview
Poland are one of the most consistent teams in Europe in terms of qualifying for major tournaments over the past 20 years. The 2018 World Cup was their third participation in the competition since 2000, and they have made it to the same number of European Championships. There have been some successful efforts in that time, not least their place in the semi-finals of Euro 2016, eventually eliminated by winners Portugal. It was a poorer showing in Russia last year and their Nation’s League campaign was also one of extreme disappointment, finishing bottom of their group and failing to win a game. That performance will relegate them into League B for the next running of the competition but they have a chance to make up for it when kicking off their qualification cycle on Thursday. The standard of opponents is certainly a level down with neither Portugal or Italy to face but Jerzy Brzeczek will be well aware of the pressure that is on him to continue his nation’s proud recent record of making it through to the tournament itself next summer. It’s likely that this will be the final chance for a lot of this squad to play in a major championships so there will certainly be now shortage of motivation.
Austria v Poland Betting Advice
These two countries have hosted the European Championships in recent times and will be hoping to take part in a first for the tournament when it’s shared around 12 different cities in 12 different countries. Somewhat surprisingly, this will be the first meeting between Austria and Poland since the two clashed in Euro 2008 in a match that ended 1-1. That sort of result would not be a disaster for either on Thursday but it would certainly be more favourable for Poland as the away team.
Austria’s only home defeat in the last two and a half years was against Brazil before last summer’s World Cup so they are capable of getting the win they need. For Poland, it’s been a really disappointing period under their new coach who has yet to win a game from the six he’s been in charge of. What is in their favour for this game is that the two points they picked up in the Nation’s League both came on the road and considering the standard of that opponent they will feel confident of getting a result on Thursday. Neither of these are in great form and will perhaps look on a point from this one as being a decent start with nine further games to come.
