Wales welcome Austria to Cardiff City Stadium in a crunch semi-final tie in UEFA Qualifying Play-Offs for 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Victory would see the winner qualify for the Path A Play-Off Final where they will face Scotland or Ukraine, who are expected to play their semi-final in June following their postponement.
Team News
Wales have no fresh injury concerns to report with their entire squad available for selection as Gareth Bale looks to start, having missed Real Madrid’s defeat against Barcelona on Sunday through illness.
Austria also have no fresh injury concerns to report although Daniel Bachmann could drop to the bench, with the more experienced Heinz Lindner in contention to start in goal.
Stat Attack
- This is the first time that Wales are facing Austria in a Play-Off match in all competitions.
- Wales are unbeaten in five of their last seven meetings against Austria in all competitions (W3, D2, L2).
- Austria have lost three of their five previous visits to Wales across all competitions (W2, L3).
- Rob Page’s Welsh Dragons kept two clean sheets in four competitive home matches in 2021 (W2, D2).
- Austria have scored twice in four of their last five competitive away matches (W2, D1, L2).
Prediction
Since exiting Euro 2020 at the Round of 16 stage last June, Wales have gone unbeaten in seven matches but their defence has been fairly inconsistent during that run with just three clean sheets so a difficult contest could be in store if their defending isn’t at its maximum quality.
Austria meanwhile come into this match off the back of two consecutive wins in which they netted four goals in both matches, so will certainly be eager to get on the front foot here and seize control yet their record against Wales is quite shaky so the odds will be against them.
It is therefore difficult to predict how this tie will play out because if Austria score first then they should win this, whereas if Wales get the lead in front of a packed home crowd then this could get interesting and I fancy Wales to edge it even if extra time is required.
Prediction: Wales 2-1 (AET) Austria
Result: Wales 2-1 Austria