Austria v Scotland: Scots to stay sharp with a return to winning ways

“Scotland have claimed victory in two of their last three meetings with Austria, both ending 1-0.”

Austria v Scotland
Tuesday, 19:45
Live on Sky Sports

Familiar foes

Scotland and Austria renew rivalries on Tuesday evening in what will be the 22nd game involving the nations. The head-to-head stats ahead of this renewal prepares fans for a competitive 90 minutes with little between the sides. Austria have won eight games already, with Scotland on six wins and the other seven ending in a draw.

Despite lagging in the total wins column, the Scots have claimed victory in two of their last three meetings with Austria, both ending 1-0. Scotland haven’t suffered defeat to Austria in four, with that run stretching back to April 2003. Will the trend continue, gifting the visitors another positive result?

Hosts have lost three of six

Austria head into this match on the back of an unconvincing run of form that has seen the locals lose three of their last six games in all competitions. Those defeats were inflicted by Wales, Denmark and, most importantly, Tuesday’s opponents. The latter was a World Cup qualifying Group F game that ended 1-0 back in September.

Thursday’s 2-1 reverse at the Cardiff City Stadium ended Austrian hopes of heading to the World Cup in Qatar later this year. A double from Gareth Bale sent Wales through, and they will now face the winners of Scotland v Ukraine in a final playoff fixture that is still without a date. Marcel Sabitzer scored a consolation goal for Austria that evening to set up a nervy finish, but they were unable to get level.

Visitors to get back on track

Scotland’s winning run was brought to an end on Thursday when finishing 1-1 with Poland at Hampden in a friendly match. Steve Clarke’s men looked well on their way to collecting another morale-boosting victory in a game played to raise funds for Unicef’s Ukraine appeal. But they suffered a late sucker punch with Poland netting from the penalty spot deep into stoppage time. It was a questionable decision to award the penalty, but this Scotland side has the character to respond.

Despite conceding a late goal and drawing that match, there were many positives to take from the friendly. Billy Gilmour turned in another impressive performance while Nathan Patterson showed Everton fans exactly what they are missing with a man of the match award. Arsenal’s Kieran Tierney scored his first Scotland goal. Scotland are more than ready for their match with Ukraine but will use this game to stay sharp.

Back the ambitious Scots

This match comes at the wrong time for Austria, and it’ll be interesting to see how they line up for the friendly. All the enthusiasm and excitement was knocked out of the Austrian side by that narrow defeat to Wales. After months of planning and hard work, they now won’t be heading to the World Cup in November, and there will be a hangover.

Scotland are still dreaming of making it to Qatar, and the players are fighting for their place. That sharpness will prove to be the difference in this match, and you can back Scotland to win at 3.412/5 on the Betfair Exchange. Victory for Austria trades at 2.021/1 with a draw 3.185/40.

The stats associated with this fixture show at least one team has failed to find the net in five of the last seven, and we’re happy to follow that trend. Back under 2.5 goals at 1.758/11 or no both teams to score.