Fresh from their World Cup playoff semi-final disappointment against Wales, Austria will take on Scotland in an international friendly on Tuesday night.
Austria lost 2-1 to Wales in the last-four playoff clash, meaning that they will not feature at the 2022 World Cup, while Scotland will enter the contest off the back of a 1-1 draw with Poland.
Match preview
© Reuters
Austria found themselves two goals behind to Wales in the early stages of the second half on Thursday evening, with Gareth Bale netting twice, and the visitors could not recover despite halving the deficit in the 64th minute through Marcel Sabitzer, so they will not be present at the 2022 World Cup.
The Boys, somewhat surprisingly, have not actually featured at the finals of a World Cup since 1998, but they did compete at Euro 2020, reaching the last-16 stage of the competition before losing to Italy.
Franco Foda's side will now be switching their attention to their UEFA Nations League campaign, which begins away to Croatia at the start of June.
Austria have not actually played a friendly since drawing 0-0 with Slovakia in Glasgow last June, but they took on Scotland twice during qualification for the 2022 World Cup, drawing 2-2 last March before losing 1-0 at home in September.
Foda's team have actually not beaten Scotland since a friendly back in 2003, but they will be desperate to return to winning ways due to the disappointment of the defeat to Wales.
© Reuters
Scotland, meanwhile, will enter this contest off the back of a 1-1 draw with Poland in a friendly on Thursday; Kieran Tierney's 68th-minute goal looked to be winning it for the home side in Glasgow, but Krzysztof Piatek levelled from the penalty spot in the final exchanges.
Steve Clarke's side had been due to take on Ukraine in their World Cup playoff semi-final on March 24, but the contest was postponed following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The fixture is now due to take place at the start of June, but Clarke recently admitted that he has doubts whether the match will go ahead due to the ongoing situation.
Scotland are actually unbeaten in all competitions since last September, recording six wins from their last seven matches in all competitions, so they would have entered the clash with Ukraine full of confidence.
The visitors have not competed at the finals of a World Cup since 1998, but they were present at Euro 2020, being eliminated in the group stage of the competition, losing two of their three matches.
- W
- L
- W
- W
- L
- D
- L
- W
- L
- W
- W
- L
- L
- L
- L
- D
- W
- D
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- D
Team News
© Reuters
Austria boss Foda will shuffle his pack from the clash with Wales on Thursday evening, with a number of squad players expected to be given opportunities to impress.
Daniel Bachmann is likely to be introduced between the sticks, while Andreas Ulmer, Sasa Kalajdzic and Valentino Lazaro are among those expected to come into the side.
Marko Arnautovic could again lead the line with support from Sabitzer, but Michael Gregoritsch should also be involved at some stage during the 90 minutes of action.
Scotland were without their captain Andrew Robertson for the clash with Poland due to illness, but the Liverpool defender could come back into the squad for this match.
Head coach Clarke will make changes from the side that started on Thursday, with Stephen O'Donnell, Stuart Armstrong and Ryan Jack pushing to be involved from the first whistle.
Che Adams and Ryan Christie are both likely to retain their spots, though, and the back three and goalkeeper are also expected to be unchanged from the draw with Poland.
Austria possible starting lineup:
Bachmann; Ulmer, Dragovic, Hinteregger, Alaba; Kalajdzic, Lazaro, Seiwald, Weimann; Sabitzer; Arnautovic
Scotland possible starting lineup:
Gordon; McTominay, Hanley, Tierney; O'Donnell, S Armstrong, McGregor, Robertson; Jack, C Adams, Christie
We say: Austria 1-1 Scotland
Austria will be a wounded side due to their playoff disappointment, and there are expected to be changes to their XI from the clash with Wales. Scotland will fancy their chances of picking up another positive result, though, and we are expecting a low-scoring draw to take place on Tuesday night.
Top tip
Matt Law
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Austria win with a probability of 38.21%. A win for Scotland had a probability of 35.52% and a draw had a probability of 26.3%.
The most likely scoreline for an Austria win was 1-0 with a probability of 9.76%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.36%) and 2-0 (6.53%). The likeliest Scotland win was 0-1 (9.33%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.49%). The actual scoreline of 2-2 was predicted with a 5.4% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted a draw in this match.
