Wales vs Austria Predictions, Tips, Line-Ups & Odds (World Cup Play-Offs)
- Written by David Bet
Wales face Austria in a potentially tricky match at the Cardiff City Stadium on Thursday night and the winners will go on to play Scotland or Ukraine (whose match has been postponed for obvious reasons) for a place at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. This article contains our Wales vs Austria betting preview with predictions, expert tips, line-ups, team news, how to watch the game, best odds and exclusive free bets!
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How to watch Wales v Austria
Wales vs Austria will take place on Thursday 22nd March 2022 at the Cardiff City Stadium. The match will kick off at 7:45 PM UK time.
The match will be televised live on Sky Sports. Coverage will start at 7:15 PM.
Wales vs Austria is also being shown as live stream by Sky Go and NOW TV platforms.
Wales vs Austria Betting Preview
Wales qualified for the play-offs thanks to a second-place finish in Group E, behind Belgium. They finished their campaign unbeaten in the last 7 matches (W3 D4) and their only defeat in qualifying came against Roberto Martinez’ men in Belgium. The final game was at home against Belgium and the Dragons held the number one ranked team to a 1-1 draw, courtesy of Kieffer Moore's equaliser. Wales are rock solid at the back (11 clean sheets in the last 20 outings) and are unbeaten in their last 16 home games.
Austria finished 4th in their World Cup qualification group behind Israel, Scotland and Denmark but made the play-offs courtesy of their performance in the UEFA Nations League. In this competition, Franco Foda’s side finished three points clear of Norway in Group One of League B. Their World Cup qualifying campaign was underwhelming, marked by a 5-2 defeat in Israel and a 1-0 home loss against Scotland. As to last summer's Euros, the Austrians reached the last 16 round where they took eventual champions Italy to extra time but eventually lost 2-1 at Wembley.
Best Odds
Austria are at 15/8 to get the victory with BetVictor, with Wales at 2/1 with Unibet, while a draw is at 21/10 with Parimatch.
Probable Line-Ups
Wales (4-4-2): Hennessey; C. Roberts, Williams, Davies, Mepham; Allen, Ramsey, Johnson, Wilson; Bale, James
Gareth Bale is struggling with back pain but the Dragons expect the 100-times capped forward to make the game. Dan James should partner the former Tottenham star upfront. Aaron Ramsey has been playing regularly with Rangers and he is likely to feature from the off as well. Goalkeeper Danny Ward is out after undergoing knee surgery, so Burnley veteran Wayne Hennessey will start between the posts. Kieffer Moore, James Robert and Tyler Roberts are also sidelined while winger Rabbi Matondo is back in the squad. Joe Morrell is suspended.
Austria (4-2-3-1): Bachmann; Lainer, Dragovic, Hinteregger, Alaba; Laimer, Ilsanker; Schaub, Sabitzer, Baumgartner; Arnautovic
The likes of Dejan Ljubicic, Florian Grillitsch, Cristopher Trimmel and Philipp Lienhart are out due to injury. Marko Arnautovic will lead the line in a 4-2-3-1 starting system, supported by three offensive midfielders such as Louis Schaub, Cristoph Baumgartner and Marcel Sabitzer. Andreas Weimann of Championship outfit Bristol City has been called back to the national set-up after a seven-year absence. Austrian captain David Alaba will play as eft back, while Watford goalkeerper Daniel Bachmann will start in goal.
Wales v Austria Predictions
Gareth Bale's inclusion in the starting XI would be a massive boost for the home side. Despite that, Austria are actually narrow favourites for this match despite being ranked ten places below Wales in the FIFA rankings. In our opinion, this will be a tight game, and we don't expect so many goals. We back the draw, with 0-0 and 1-1 our recommended correct score bets.
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