Austria v Hungary - Tuesday June 14
Bordeaux, Live on ITV, 5pm
Austria
Austria breezed through qualification for Euro 2016 winning all but one of their qualifying matches, scoring plenty of goals along the way and winning every single game on the road. Bayern Munich’s David Alaba and Leicester City’s Christian Fuchs provide much needed defensive stability for Marcel Koller’s men but upfront, FC Basel’s Marc Janko was banging them in for fun, ending up with 7 goals during the qualification campaign.
In the group stages, they won 9 games, drew 0 and lost 1, scoring 22 goals, conceding 5 and ending up with a +17 goal difference.
Hungary
You’d have to say that the Hungarians can consider themselves more than a little fortunate to find themselves at Euro 2016, following a stuttering campaign which saw them spend just 25.5% of their time winning during qualifiers – the lowest of any team at France this summer. They eventually required a two-legged play-off victory against Norway, during which they actually produced some of their best football, winning both games home and away.
In the group stages, they won 4 games, drew 4 and lost 2, scoring 11 goals, conceding 9 and ending up with a +2 goal difference.
The game
Austria were excellent in qualification and they could prove to be a dark horse in the tournament following a kind draw. They scored in every one of their qualification matches and in Marc Janko they have a striker who could cause a few teams problems this summer. They were the 2nd most accurate shooters of any qualifier, getting 53.1% of their shots on target and defensively they are excellent too – not conceding a single headed goal.
It’s hard to make a serious case for Hungary to progress very far in France this summer. None of their qualifiers were settled by more than a single goal, so they weren’t capable of beating the minnows comfortably let alone the stronger sides. When they did win matches, they tended to nick them late on by a single goal. Six of the ten goals they conceded during qualifying came in the final 15 minutes of matches, which suggests that they may have problems maintaining fitness and discipline as the games progress. This is a bit step up.
Many might be expecting this to be a tight, even contest, but I think Austria will win this game and win it comfortably.
Recommended bets
- Austria to be winning at half time and at full time @
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