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Austria will welcome Serbia to Ernst Happel Stadion in the first leg of the UEFA Nations League playoffs on Thursday. The hosts won three of their six league phase games and narrowly missed out on direct qualification. The Eagles registered just one win and finished third in the Group A4 table.
Das Team were winless in their first two games of the Nations League campaign and won three of the next four games. They met Slovenia in their previous outing in November and were held to a 1-1 draw. Romano Schmid, assisted by Christoph Baumgartner, gave them the lead in the first half and Adam Gnezda Čerin equalized for Slovenia late in the second half.
The visitors are winless in their last three games in the Nations League and drew their two games in November.
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Austria vs Serbia Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
- The two teams have squared off five times in all competitions. All meetings have produced conclusive results, with the visitors leading 3-2.
- They last met in a friendly in 2024 and Das Team recorded a 2-1 home win.
- Four of the five meetings between them have produced over 2.5 goals, with both teams scoring at least two goals in three games.
- Austria are unbeaten in their last three home games in the Nations League, recording two wins while scoring 10 goals.
- Serbia, meanwhile, were winless in their three away games, failing to score in two.
- Only five teams scored more goals than the hosts (15) in the league phase of the Nations League, across all four leagues.
- The visitors have the worst goalscoring record in League A, scoring three goals in six games.
Austria vs Serbia Prediction
Das Team head into the match on a four-game unbeaten streak, scoring 12 goals while keeping two clean sheets. After three consecutive defeats against Serbia, they have won their last two games in this fixture, with both wins registered at home.
Marcel Sabitzer is a key absentee for Ralf Rangnick as the Borussia Dortmund midfielder is nursing a knee injury. Jonas Auer received a late call-up to the squad while Konrad Laimer is suspended for the first leg.
The Eagles have failed to score in five of their last seven competitive games and will look to improve upon that record. They scored just once in three away games in the league phase.
Miloš Veljković suffered a knock last week and has been left out of the squad. Nikola Milenkovic, Strahinja Pavlovic, Andrija Živkovic, and Aleksa Terzic will miss the first leg due to suspensions. Aleksandar Mitrovic has been left out of the squad, so Dušan Vlahović should start here.
The visitors have a lengthy absentee list for the first leg, which is likely to compact their performance here. Das Team have an impressive recent home record and should be able to register a comfortable win.
Prediction: Austria 2-0 Serbia
Austria vs Serbia Betting Tips
Tip 1: Result - Austria to win
Tip 2: Goals - Over/Under 2.5 Goals - Under 2.5 goals
Tip 3: Both teams to score - No
Tip 4: At least a goal to be scored in the second half - Yes
