Austria vs Serbia Prediction: Das Team to take lead to Belgrade

Austria finished as runners-up in Uefa Nations League Group B3 last autumn and as a result, are now eyeing promotion to the top tier via the play-offs. Standing in their way are Serbia, who ended Group A4 in third place and must now navigate their way past Das Team to hold onto their first-division status.

Below are my Austria vs Serbia predictions, complete with all the latest team news and match odds, ahead of Thursday's first leg at Ernst Happel Stadion in Vienna (19:45).

Team News

Kevin Danso (RC Lens, on loan to Tottenham Hotspur), Stefan Posch (Bologna, on loan to Atalanta) and Max Wober (Leeds United) all started at least one of Austria's November internationals, but the trio have suffered injuries for their club sides and aren't included in Ralf Rangnick's squad this month as they recover from their respective problems.

Rangnick's defensive options are boosted, though, by the return of national team captain David Alaba (Real Madrid), who missed all of Austria's matches last year due to injury.

Further experience in the squad can be found in 87-cap midfielder Marcel Sabitzer (Borussia Dortmund) and 121-cap forward Mark Arnautovic (Inter).

Konrad Laimer (Bayern Munich) is included, but the 27-year-old will miss the home leg of Austria's tie against Serbia due to suspension.

Football Odds

Serbia, meanwhile, have three players banned for their trip to Vienna. Aleksa Terzic (Salzburg), Andrija Zivkovic (PAOK) and Strahinja Pavlovic (Milan) are all out of the first leg but are free to return for Sunday's reverse fixture in Belgrade.

Dragan Stojkovic's plans were also dealt a blow by injuries to Aleksandar Mitrovic and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (both Al-Hilal), as well as Milos Veljkovic (Werder Bremen), who pulled out after originally being named in the squad.

Nikola Milenkovic (Nottingham Forest), Nemanja Gudelj (Sevilla) and Dusan Vlahovic (Juventus) have all been called up by Stojkovic and are expected to play key roles for their country this month.

Austria vs Serbia Odds

Austria beat Serbia 2-1 at Ernst Happel Stadion in a pre-Euro 2024 friendly last June and nine months later have been installed as 8/11 favourites against the same opposition, implying a 57.9% chance of success. The visitors, meanwhile, are 18/5, or a 21.7% chance, to triumph on foreign soil for the first time since June 8, 2024, when they beat Sweden 3-0 in Solna.

The draw is priced at 12/5, both teams to score at 10/11, and over 2.5 total goals at 1/1.

Arnautovic (8/5) heads the anytime goalscorer market with Vlahovic (3/1) first up for Serbia.

Match Result & Total Goals Over/Under 1.5 - Austria & Over 1.5 Goals @ 5/4

Austria won half (three) of their six Nations League Group B3 games, beating Kazakhstan home (4-0) and away (0-2) either side of a 5-1 thrashing of Norway. They were pipped to top spot by the Norwegians, though, with their only loss (2-1) of the campaign coming against Erling Haaland & Co.

There were at least two goals scored in all six of their group matches and only one of their 14 games - eight of which they won - in the whole of 2024 went under 1.5 goals. All of those victories saw at least two strikes.

Serbia, meanwhile, risk relegation to the second tier after coming third in Group A4. They managed only one win, beating bottom-side Switzerland (2-0) at home, and their two defeats were fairly comprehensive as they lost 2-0 away to Denmark and 3-0 away to Spain.

It was a disappointing year for the Eagles who won just three of their 13 games in 2024, and their bid to start 2025 positively has been harmed by several key absences, not least Mitrovic and Pavlovic.

Austria, on the other hand, are buoyed by the return of the talismanic Alaba, who will help to cover the absences of Danso, Posch and Wober.

Das Team have impressed under Rangnick and in Vienna, will expect to pick up the win on Thursday. A 2-0 or 3-1 win would be my scoreline prediction for this one, so I'm taking an Austria victory and over 1.5 total goals at 5/4.

Anytime Goalscorer - Romano Schmid (AUS) @ 4/1

This looks like great value considering Romano Schmid's recent form for club and country. The 25-year-old has scored in his last two Bundesliga games for Werder Bremen, opening the scoring in a 2-0 win at Bayer Leverkusen on March 8 and following that strike up a week later with another first-half effort in a 4-2 defeat at home to Borussia Monchengladbach.

Austria haven't played since drawing 1-1 with Slovenia on November 17 and it was Schmid who found the net for them that evening, opening the scoring in the 27th minute at Ernst Happel Stadion. That was Schmid's second strike of the year for Das Team after he opened his international account at Euro 2024, putting his country 2-1 ahead in a 3-2 group-stage victory over the Netherlands.

He should get the chance to impress from the off again on Thursday and at 4/1, is a nice price to continue his hot form in front of goal.

Offers

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