Rapid Vienna vs Dundee United Prediction: Viennese to waltz to first-leg victory

Rapid Vienna have made a blistering start to the season and they may be too hot for Dundee United to handle in the first leg of their Conference League third qualifying-round tie on Thursday (20:00, BBC iPlayer).

The Austrians have won all four competitive matches this term with some aplomb, and although United are unbeaten in their outings, this clash represents their toughest test of the campaign so far.

Team News

Janis Antiste picked up a knock in Rapid's win over Decic Tuzi but recovered to feature against Blau Weiss Linz, and the on-loan forward should feature again this week. Otherwise, Wien boast a clean bill of health and they currently have nobody serving a suspension.

United Captain Ross Graham (hamstring), Kristijan Trapanovski, Ryan Strain and Dario Naamo all missed the draw with Falkirk at the weekend and are unlikely to feature in Vienna on Thursday.

Rapid Vienna vs Dundee United Odds

These two have met twice before, in 1984's European Cup, and those matches yielded a win each. Wien are red-hot favourites at 1/4 to maintain their winning start to this campaign, while United are 9/1 to upset the odds. It's 11/10 that both teams score, while over 2.5 goals is a 4/7 shot.

The hosts are 8/15 to qualify, and the Invermen are 11/8 to go through.

Rapid Vienna to win & both teams score @ 15/8

SK Rapid Wien have won their last five matches in all competitions, a run stretching back to the end of last season, and they look a great bet to beat Dundee United in a lively Conference League qualifier on Thursday.

Wins have been easy to come by but so have the goals for Peter Stoger's side, who brushed aside Decic Tusi with a 6-2 aggregate triumph in the second qualifying round.

A 1-0 win over Admira Wacker in the Austrian Cup made it a successful start domestically and they followed it up with another 1-0 victory over Blau Weiss Linz in their opening league match of the season last Sunday.

Confidence is high in the Wien camp and they could make it count against Dundee United on home soil at the Allianz Stadion this week.

United have made an unbeaten start to the campaign but Saturday's 2-2 draw with Falkirk was slightly disappointing and they only just edged past UNA Strassen 2-0 on aggregate to reach this stage of the Conference League, so Rapid are fancied to secure a first-leg lead with a comfortable win in which both sides score.

Today's Football Fixtures

Rapid Vienna to win 3-1 @ 9/1

United could get on the scoresheet this week, but they may struggle to stop Rapid Wien bagging at least three goals.

The home side are in great nick and have scored at least three times in three of their last four home matches.

United have lost three of their last four qualifiers away from home and they could be left with plenty of work to do in next week's second leg back on Tayside.

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