Austria vs Romania Prediction: Sabitzer to strike on Das Team return

Austria kick off their 2026 World Cup qualification campaign with a home game against Romania on Saturday (19:45) at the Ernst Happel Stadion in Vienna. Romania have played twice already in Group H, suffering an opening-round defeat to Bosnia (0-1) before thrashing San Marino (1-5) away last time out.

Below are my Austria vs Romania predictions, complete with all the latest team news and match odds.

Team News

Marcel Sabitzer (Borussia Dortmund), Kevin Danso (Tottenham Hotspur, on loan from RC Lens) and Max Wober (Leeds United) are back in the Austria squad after injury kept all three out of the Uefa Nations League play-off tie with Serbia in March.

However, David Alaba (Real Madrid), who returned from a long-term injury earlier this year and appeared in both legs against Serbia, is sidelined again after missing his club side's final five games of the season.

Football Odds

Austria's record appearance maker, Marko Arnautovic (Inter Milan), suffered a challenging end to the campaign with his club, falling at the final hurdle in Serie A and the Champions League, so he will hope to bounce back with a goal or two for his country this month.

He's not guaranteed to start on Saturday, however, with Michael Gregoritsch (Freiburg) selected by Ralf Rangnick to lead the line ahead of him last time out.

Ianis Hagi (Rangers), Adrian Rus, Olimpiu Morutan (both Pisa), Dennis Politic (Dinamo Bucharest), Vlad Dragomir (Pafos), Denis Ciobotariu (Rapid Bucharest) and Alexandru Chipciu (Universitatea Cluj) are all missing from the latest Romania squad.

The likes of Nicolae Stanciu (Damac), Vlad Chiriches (FCSB), Razvan Marin (Cagliari), Dennis Man (Parma) and Denis Dragus (Trabzonspor) are included, however.

Austria vs Romania Odds

Austria are winless in their last three games, but Das Team are 4/11 favourites on Saturday, implying a 73.3% probability of success, while Romania are 17/2, or a 10.5% chance, to claim a seventh victory in their last eight.

The draw is priced at 18/5, both teams to score at 5/4, and over 2.5 total goals at 10/11.

Arnautovic (11/8) and Gregoritsch (8/5) head the anytime goalscorer market, with Cluj forward Louis Munteanu (7/2) first up for the visitors.

Both Teams To Score - Yes @ 5/4

I like the look of this one at over EVS.

Austria have scored in 27 of their last 29 internationals, only drawing a blank in their Euro 2024 opener against France (0-1) last June and last time out against Serbia (2-0), where they were reduced to 10 men in the 68th minute. They've kept just nine clean sheets, though, with both teams scoring in 62% (18) of those 29 games.

Romania, meanwhile, have found the net at least once in 22 of their last 29 matches (excluding the 3-0 walkover against Kosovo last November), with BTTS-Yes a winning selection in 14 of them, including three of their last four.

Austria are, rightly, favourites to win Saturday's qualifier, and it would certainly be a surprise to see Romania stop them from scoring at home for the first time since September 2021, when Scotland beat them 1-0 in Vienna.

However, I fancy the visitors to get on the scoresheet, too, with only Bosnia managing to keep them out in their last seven games. Granted, the Tricolorii faced some mediocre sides in their Uefa Nations League group in the second half of last year, but they put three past Ukraine in their Euro 2024 opener in Germany and also scored once against Slovakia, and they can pose problems for Das Team, who have kept just two clean sheets in their last 15 outings.

Anytime Goalscorer - Marcel Sabitzer (AUS) @ 12/5

Sabitzer sat out Austria's last two internationals following a knee injury suffered in the first half of Dortmund's 2-0 defeat to RB Leipzig on May 15. He remained out of action until May 3, when he made his return as a late substitute against Wolfsburg. Eight days later, he was brought on at the start of the second half against Bayer Leverkusen, before playing the full 90 in his side's season finale against Holstein Kiel.

The 31-year-old even got on the scoresheet against Kiel, breaking his season drought for the Bundesliga club, although he did strike twice for his country last autumn, netting against Norway in September and Kazakhstan the following month.

Sabitzer has 20 international goals to his name in 87 caps, a respectable record for a player who has performed several midfield roles.

At 12/5, he looks decent value to net in back-to-back games for club and country.

Offers

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