Argentina vs Austria Prediction: Magical Messi edging Klose to history

All eyes will be on Argentina and Lionel Messi on Monday evening (6pm BST, 12pm local, live on BBC One) as La Celeste take on Austria in Dallas.

The defending champions laid down a marker with an emphatic 3-0 win over Algeria in their opening group game, while Austria also got off to a winning start, defeating World Cup debutants Jordan 3-1. Read on Argentina vs Austria predictions, as well as the latest team news and match odds.

Team News

Both teams may opt to name unchanged starting XIs after beginning their campaigns with a win.

For Argentina, that would see Lisandro Martinez and Cristian Romero retain their places in the heart of defence, while Lautaro Martinez will start up top with captain Lionel Messi.

As for Austria, David Alaba will captain the side from centre-back alongside Philipp Lienhart, although Ralf Rangnick may consider starting Marko Arnautovic up front over Sasa Kalajdzic after the former Stoke City forward came off the bench to score against Jordan.

Argentina vs Austria Odds

Argentina are 4/7 favourites for Monday's match, giving them an implied win probability of 63.6%, while the draw is 3/1 and Austria are 5/1.

Over 2.5 goals is available at 10/11, and both teams to score - yes can be backed at EVENS.

Argentina to win and both teams to score @ 5/2

It was the Lionel Messi show in Argentina's opening contest against Algeria, as the champs cruised to a 3-0 win courtesy of a first-ever World Cup hat-trick from the nation's greatest-ever player.

That win marked Argentina's eighth successive triumph, and while Austria are a step up from Algeria in terms of quality, I still think they're set for another victory on Monday.

La Celeste are decent at the back, but Austria have netted 11 times in their last 12 fixtures, so I do fancy them to score on Monday, but they've also only bagged more than once in two of their last five.

*Click here for the latest World Cup Odds

Lionel Messi to score (Sub Switch) @ 10/11

As mentioned above, Messi reminded us all of his quality on Tuesday night, even at the age of 38.

The eight-time Ballon d'Or winner rolled back the years with a vintage performance against Algeria, and all eyes with be on him on Monday.

The former Barcelona man's hat-trick against the Desert Warriors took him level with Germany's Miroslav Klose as the all-time leading goalscorer at the World Cup with 16 strikes, and I'm backing Messi to create more history on Monday with another goal, and claim the record outright.

With Betfred's new 'Sub Switch' feature, if your player gets substituted at any point in the match, your selection is switched to the next player!