Red Devils test against Austria

While friendly games are being played around the world during the international break, Europe is getting down to business. The European Championship qualifier goes into the next round, including Austria and Belgium on Saturday. The game will be played in Brussels at the King Baudouin Stadium. Under the direction of Ralf Rangnick, the Austria team was able to perform well in the last 4 games,against the giants Belgium, however, it will certainly not be a walk in the park. 

The Red Devils have also proved themselves twice in the spring with victories against Sweden and Germany. The odds seem to have found a clear favorite in Belgium, but if you take a look at the statistics you will see that Austria is way ahead in terms of wins. Sure, the last win was over 60 years ago, but knowing how to beat Belgium proves it. The red-white-red team won't give up that easily, so the fans can look forward to an exciting encounter.

Are you new to our Betandyou blog? Well, check out our promotions!

New coach, new ambitions for Belgium

Belgium disappointed at the 2022 FIFA World Cup and were eliminated in the group stage. Despite being favorites, they only won 1-0 against Canada, lost 2-0 against Morocco and drew 0-0 against Croatia. As a result, coach Roberto Martinez resigned and was replaced by Domenico Tedesco. The former RB Leipzig coach led the team to a 3-0 win over Sweden with a hat-trick from Romelu Lukaku and a 3-2 win over Germany with goals from Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne and Yannick Carrasco. 

Despite some inconsistency in recent games, Tedesco seems to have given the team a boost.The last two games certainly show a high scoring rate for Belgium and Lukaku will want to show his scoring prowess again in this game. Eden Hazard announced his retirement from the national team after the early World Cup exit and will be given an honorable farewell after the game on Saturday. A huge choreography across almost the entire arena is planned before kick-off.

Belgium will be without Kevin De Bruyne on Saturday as he picked up an injury in the Champions League final. The nationally inexperienced Wolfsburg midfielder Aster Vranckx was called up as a replacement in the squad. Coach Domenico Tedesco has also called up six other players for the first time, including Thomas Kaminski, Arnaud Bodart, Ameen Al-Dakhil, Mike Tresor Ndayishimiye and Olivier Deman. On the other hand, Jan Vertonghen, Romelu Lukaku and Thibaut Courtois boast more than 100 caps, while Yannick Carrasco, Youri Tielemans and Michy Batshuayi have reached half a century. Tedesco is expected to choose a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 formation, with Courtois in goal and Lukaku up front.There is a possibility that Lois Openda will join Lukaku in attack after a successful season at Ligue 1 club Lens.

Austria in form

Austria leads Group F by three points from Belgium and Sweden after clinching maximum points in their first two qualifiers in March. The team beat Azerbaijan 4-1 with Marcel Sabitzer's brace and goals from Michael Gregoritsch and Christoph Baumgartner, and beat Estonia 2-1 three days later after coming from behind. Before the game against Belgium, Austria are in good form, having won their last four games, including friendlies against Andorra and Italy. Austria had a difficult time last season in the UEFA Nations League, but since then they have seen positive developments. 

The Austria team also knows how to score goals, so they are well prepared going forward. The only problem that would stand in the way of a win is finding a goalie. Ralf Rangnick has not yet decided who should keep the goal against Belgium.

Next weekend Ralf Rangnick will congratulate David Alaba on his 100th international match for Austria. The Real Madrid defender is expected to join Leeds United's Maximilian Wöber in the visitors' defence. On the other side of the field, SC Freiburg striker Michael Gregoritsch will likely be joined by Marko Arnautovic,who has already scored 34 goals in 106 international matches. Konrad Laimer, who plays for Bayern Munich, will operate in central midfield, while Dejan Ljubicic, Patrick Wimmer, Christoph Baumgartner and Marcel Sabitzer will fight for a midfield spot. As already mentioned, the place in the goal has not yet been taken, the choices are Daniel Bachmann (Watford), Niklas Hedl (Rapid), Patrick Pentz (Bayer Leverkusen) and Alexander Schlager (from now on Red Bull Salzburg. The search for a new Austria-Goalie was necessary because Heinz Lindner has testicular cancer and is on the mend.

Belgium - Austria: What to expect? 

The Austrian national team has nine wins and three draws against Belgium. Unfortunately, those victories were a few years back and Belgium has been at the forefront since 1978. 

Nevertheless, they are only slightly ahead when you look at the last 5 games. The Red Devils were able to win two games, the other three games were drawn. The last encounter was also 12 years ago, Belgium won 0-2 with a brace from Axel Witsel. The game before that, in the same qualification, ended with a 4:4 thanks to Martin Harnick. The former Austrian international scored the equalizer in the 93rd minute.

Belgium have scored three goals in each of their last two games under Tedesco. But Austria was also able to show very good performances, which the victory against Italy shows. Of course, you also have to consider that Belgium is currently fourth in the Fifa rankings and, with a market value of almost 390 million, is far above that of Austria. Even if we predict a win for Belgium , Austria won't make it easy for them. We also rely on a tip under 2.5 goals .

• Belgium to win
• Under 2.5

* All odds and markets are correct at time of publication and subject to change.