Austria Wien
Austria will be keen to build on their opening day win over St. Pölten. Despite losing against Spartak Trnava(Europa League) their attitude has been great in two competitive matches so far. Thorsten Fink will have a full squad available and is unlikely to make any unnecessary rotation as his team will be targeting three more points at Ernst Happel stadium.
An attacking approach will be seen from the start as Austria Wien sees this match as winnable. They’ll be big favourites against the key relegation candidates in the new season.n Expect to see Austria Wien dominating possession as they’ll be keen to put the visitors under pressure from the start. The team will be pushing up on the opponent’s’ defence aiming to force early mistakes and turnovers.
They’ll play their “home” matches at Ernst Happel stadium which is an extremely big ground, so there is a strong chance that the support from the fans will not be as loud as it was in their Generali Arena which is been renovated.
Mattersburg
Mattersburg were very unhappy with the opening day defeat by Admira at home as they were the much better team but poor efficiency again proved to be an issue for them. They team will travel to Vienna with a hope to take advantage of playing against hosts who had a midweek Europa League qualifier on Thursday night. Mattersburg have had more preparation time and will be determined to do well.
They have only one absence as squad player Doleschal is expected to be on the sidelines for a while. There are no forced moves and also unlikely to be many changes from the opening season defeat at home by Admira.
A cautious approach is most likely as they’ll be lining up in a 4-1-4-1 formation which was used in the majority of away matches last season. Their primary focus will be to keep things tight defensively and they will get players back behind the ball when they don’t have possession. However, they are not a team that will sit in and defend for 90 minutes. They will favour a direct approach when they look to get into the opponent’s half. They’ll be using short passes before trying to set up quick offensive threat through the wide areas where they are capable of breaking in behind the host’s line.
Verdict
Austria Wien are coming from a tough match and there might be some issues with their fatigue. Mattersburg’s players should be rested and prepared for their opponents. I expect a low scoring match something like 1-0 or 1-1. I recommend a low stake on away team with AH option.
Prediction: Mattersburg +1.25 AH
Odds: 1.95 Pinnacle / SBOBET
