Austria vs Cyprus Prediction: Sabitzer to shine again on international stage

Austria have made a strong start to their World Cup qualification campaign, beating Romania (H) 2-1 and San Marino (A) 4-0. Next up for Ralf Rangnick's side is Cyprus, who began Group H with a 2-0 victory over San Marino (H) before losing 2-1 to Bosnia & Herzegovina (A) and 2-0 to Romania (A). 

Below are my Austria vs Cyprus predictions, complete with all the latest team news and match odds, ahead of this qualifier from the Raiffeisen Arena in Linz.

Team News

Rapid Wien striker Nikolaus Wurmbrand and Lens defender Samson Baidoo were called up to Rangnick's squad, but have now dropped back down to the U21s.

Real Madrid defender David Alaba, Borussia Dortmund midfielder Marcel Sabitzer and Red Star Belgrade forward Marko Arnautovic are the three most experienced internationals available to Rangnick; the latter is just four goals away from eclipsing Austria's all-time top scorer, Toni Polster (44).

Football Odds

Stefan Lainer (Salzburg) and Maximilian Wober (Werder Bremen, on loan from Leeds United) are the headline names left out, with the latter sidelined through injury.

Galkeeper Alexander Schlager (Salzburg) is back in the squad after a wrist injury kept him out of June's games; Patrick Pentz may therefore drop down to the bench.

Brazil-born goalkeeper Fabiano, who has played for Omonia since 2019, could make his debut for Cyprus on Saturday.

Today's Football Fixtures

Hellas Verona midfielder Grigoris Kastanos could captain the side again, and up top, Pieros Sotiriou (APOEL), the highest-scoring international in the squad with 12 goals, will hope to receive minutes after being left on the bench for both games in June.

Sampdoria defender Nikolas Ioannou again misses out, however.

Austria vs Cyprus Odds

Austria are 1/14 to make it three wins out of three in Group H, while Cyprus are 33/1, or a 2.9% chance, to record a first-ever victory over Austria, with the draw priced at 10/1.

Anytime Goalscorer - Marcel Sabitzer (AUT) @ 8/5

Arnautovic (8/13), Brondby striker Michael Gregoritsch (7/10) and Union Saint-Gilloise forward Raul Florucz (4/5) are all odds-on to score anytime for Austria on Saturday, so I'm looking to Sabitzer to provide a bit more value at 8/5.

The 31-year-old has scored 21 times in 89 caps for Das Team, and nine of those strikes have come since the start of 2023. He scored five in nine caps that year, three in 10 last year, and is on one in two in 2025 after netting his country's second in the 2-1 win over Romania on June 7.

Sabitzer only managed to score once for Dortmund last season, but that goal came on the very last day, in a 3-0 victory over Holstein Kiel on May 17.

The former Bayern Munich and Manchester United midfielder tends to save his strikes for the international stage, and he could add Cyprus to his list of victims on Saturday.

First Half Total Goals - Over 1.5 @ 1/1

This has been a winner in four of Cyprus's last five games, the only exception being the only match they've won in that period (goalless first half in 2-0 vs San Marino).

Over 1.5 goals landed in Austria's most recent match, the 4-0 win over San Marino, where they scored all four goals before the interval.

Austria have scored in the first half of their last four home games, while Cyprus have conceded at least one goal in their last four away trips.

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